
Copyright^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE CARE AND TRAINING 
OF CHILDREN 



THE 

CARE AND TRAINING 

OF CHILDREN 



By 

LE GRAND KERR, M.D. 

Author of 
' Diagnostics of Diseases of Children " ; " The Baby : Its Care and Development" 
Professor of Diseases of Children in the Brooklyn Post-graduate Medical School ; 
Attending Physician to the Children's Department of the Methodist Episcopal 
(Seney) Hospital; Visiting Physician to the Children's Wards of the Williams- 
burg Hospital and the Swedish Hospital in Brooklyn, N. T. ; Consulting 
Physician to the Children's Department of the E. N. T. Dispensary 
and to the Immanuel Hospital, Etc. 




FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY 

NEW YORK AND LONDON 
I9IO 



^ 



b 



Copyright, 1910 

BY 

FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY 

(.Printed in the United States of America) 

Published September, 1910 



i CI A 2* 1 : > 



> 



To 

THE WEE LADDIE, KENNETH 

AND 

THE WEE LASSIE, LOTHIAN ; 

THE BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN OF A SPLENDID 

MOTHER 

THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED 

AS AN APPRECIATION OF THEIR STIMULUS TO 

THE AUTHOR'S WORK 



PREFACE 



FACTS ; these are what the average busy 
parent wants. The author was im- 
prest with this need shortly after his former 
book, "The Baby," was published ; that little 
volume became the means by which was em- 
phasized the demand for a book that should 
deal with the problems of the older child. 

Time and again it was imprest upon the 
writer that a clear statement of general prin- 
ciples, written in a plain and practical way, 
and devoid of things which are yet beyond 
the possibilities of application by parents not 
specially trained, would result in cooperation 
on the part of most parents, and would 
eventually result in a clearer appreciation of 
the needs of the child and in the best prac- 
tical method by which to meet immediately 
those needs. 

This volume has been written with that 
object in view. Literary style, romance- 
weaving, everything in fact, has been subor- 
dinated to the giving of practical helpfulness. 



Vlll PREFACE 

It is practically true of child training and 
care that rapid advancement has been made 
at the cost of known values. With the sub- 
stitution of the new for the old, or the up-to- 
date for the out-of-date, there has come a 
relinquishing of things that makes us stop 
and question whether the new is really an 
advance. Whatever is of value in this vol- 
ume has been caught from the contagion of 
great characters, conscientious parents and 
many books. To these characters, these par- 
ents and these books all credit is due; the 
only claim made by the author is to have 
put the facts into form for a clearer under- 
standing and for a practical application of 
them. The uniform courtesy of the publish- 
ers commands my gratitude and an expres- 
sion of my hearty appreciation. 

Le Grand Kerr, M.D. 

Forty-two Gates Avenue, 

Brooklyn, New York. 



INTRODUCTION 



NO CHILD is exactly like another child. 
Even in the same family, with the 
hereditary influences, economic conditions 
and surroundings the same, the different 
children of that family will be unlike. This 
fact is so common and self-evident, that 
parents often speak of it. Because of it the 
lesson should be learned early that it is nec- 
essary to study each child individually. It 
is necessary, in the first place, to have in 
mind that there are general characteristics 
common to all children, but we must then 
fully appreciate, that there are characteris- 
tics and peculiarities which separate one 
child from another. These must be sought 
out and studied, because neglect to do so will 
result in failure in dealing with the indi- 
vidual child. 

Every parent will know these characteris- 



X INTRODUCTION 

tics and peculiarities after a brief period of 
observation. Such observation should be un- 
dertaken when the child is alone and when 
associated with others. Comparisons should 
always be made between the characteristics 
of one particular child and then of other 
children. 

Knowing the individual child, the parent 
will be prepared, as no one else can be, to 
cope with any condition which may arise in 
its training. Further than this, the knowl- 
edge so acquired will prove helpful in situa- 
tions in which a stranger must be called in 
for help. In all matters pertaining to child 
study and child life, broad general principles 
can be laid down, but there must be, in addi- 
tion to this, study of personality in order 
to carry principles out in detail. A careful 
reading of the several chapters of this book 
will readily show that, even a conscientious 
carrying out of the principles suggested in 
securing right conduct in children, will often 
result in failure unless the particular needs 
of the individual child are studied and met. 

For instance, an attempt to guide or eradi- 
cate forms of viciousness will be immediate- 
ly doomed to failure, unless there is the 
prompt recognition of the physical basis. 






INTRODUCTION XI 

The part that disease of an apparently mild 
character may play in the formation and con- 
tinuance of vicious habits is often unrecog- 
nized by parents. It is so easy to attribute 
a moral fault to moral weakness that the 
physical element may be overlooked and neg- 
lected. I am imprest more and more with 
the fact that children, as a general rule, are 
in greater need of attention to their hygienic 
surroundings, the perfecting of their nutri- 
tion and perchance the careful administra- 
tion of a suitable tonic, than they are of dis- 
cipline. 

In following the suggestions contained in 
these chapters, the parent should not accept 
them as so many set rules, but should always 
consider them as helps to the solving of an 
individual problem. In practical use there 
must always come the modifications de- 
manded by circumstances, in the various 
matters of clothing, diet, sleep, friends, 
amusements, and so forth, allowance should 
be made for the existing condition of things. 
But through it all there should come a recog- 
nition of the fact that the child's welfare 
demands the best that the parent can give; 
that no sacrifice that the parent makes in 
attaining the ideal will ever be wasted. 



Xll INTRODUCTION 

Used in this manner and in this spirit, the 
book will help to smooth over some of the 
rough places and in that measure make the 
child's development more symmetrical and 
his later life more efficient. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Child's Room . . . 17 

General considerations — Ventilation, 
Heating, Temperature and Light- 
ing — Evidences of deficient ventila- 
tion — Furnishings and Cleaning — 
Playrooms and the Sick room. 

II. Clothing 29 

Influence of custom — Main functions 
of clothing — Best materials — Wool — 
Dangers of constriction — Foot cov- 
erings — Overdressing and Under- 
dressing. 

III. Diet 38 

General considerations — The child's 
needs — Failure of diet lists — Over- 
eating — Mastication — Intervals be- 
tween meals — Eating before retiring 
— Flesh foods — Fish, Eggs, Milk 
and Cream — Buttermilk, Butter and 
fats — Cheese — Vegetables, Cereals, 
Fruits and Bread — Water, Coffee, 
Tea and Chocolate — Candy — The 
Appetite — Distaste for certain foods. 

IV. Bathing 59 

Dangers of dirt — Benefits of bathing 
— The skin as an important organ — 
Frequency of bathing — Temperature 
of the bath — Cold sponge or shower 
baths— Warm baths — Surf bathing — 
Lessening fear of water — Local 
bathing. 

V. Sleep 69 

General considerations — Conditions 
conducive to sleep — Time spent in 
sleep— Disturbances of sleep — Rest- 
lessness — Disturbed sleep — Uneasi- 
ness — Night terror — Sleep walking. 

VI. The Bowels .... 79 

Importance of regularity — Frequency 
in movements — Training in regu- 
larity — Habitual constipation — 
Causes and relief. 

xiii 



CONTENTS 



VII. The Teeth 85 

Permanent teeth— Care of the teeth- 
Systematic inspection and care. 

VIII. Weight and Height . . 89 

Normal standards — Differences be- 
tween boys and girls — Obesity. 

IX. Education at Home and In 

the Kindergarten . . 93 

What education is — Its beginning in 
the home — Its influence and impor- 
tance — Its relation to the school — 
General considerations of the Kin- 
dergarten — Tendency to wrong uses 
— Its proper function. 

X. Education at School . . 98 

General considerations — Duty of par- 
ents and teachers — Influence on 
health — What is the health relation 
of the child to a system— Medical 
supervision — Home conditions— As- 
sociation with others — Contagion — 
— Preventive measures — Modern 
school buildings — Parent's Coopera- 
tion — Physical defects that hinder 
education — Correct positions in 
work — Influence of surroundings — 
Crowded curriculums — Brain ex- 
haustion — Dangers of overstrain — 
— Physiological periods conducive 
to overstrain — Concentration periods 
— Overstrain out of school — Nutri- 
tion and Diet — Overstrain of special 
organs — Sleep — Influence of eye and 
ear in education — The parent's duty 
if a child breaks down — Intellectual 
precocity. 

XI. Relations of the Parent to 

the Child .... 132 

Knowing the child — Differences in 
children — General characteristics — 
How to discern characteristics — 
Right and wrong methods — The 
child's viewpoint — Restlessness of 
children — Curiosity — Credulity — Im- 
itation — Imagination — Training the 
imagination — Children as individuals 
and in Groups — Influence of num- 
bers — Two large classes of children 
— The Motor child — The sensory 
child — The unrestrained emotional 
type — The restrained emotional type. 



CONTENTS XV 



XII. Government of the Child . 146 

The relations of parent and child — 
Recognition by the State — Proper 
care — Past and present attitudes to- 
ward the child — Basis of child gov- 
ernment — Obedience — Illustrations 
—Explicit commands — Securing obe- 
dience — The place of gentle meth- 
ods — Advantages of government by 
reason — Disadvantages — Self-deci- 
sions — The place of reason — Govern- 
ment by artifice and how accom- 
plished — Great dangers — Effects 
upon character — Results in future 
training — The danger of buying obe- 
dience — Effects upon the child — Re- 
sults upon the future. 

XIII. Punishment .... 162 

Its three degrees — Bodily punishment, 
its place and its dangers — Results 
upon the child — Results upon the 
parent — The effect upon subsequent 
conduct — Frightening, the immediate 
and after effects — Children's fears — 
Reprimands — Scolding- — Threatening 
— Rewards and punishments — The 
cooperation of parents — The effect 
upon the child. 

XIV. Gentle Methods in Govern- 

ment 174 

The place for them, their dangers, 
value and positive virtues — The co- 
operation of parent — Selecting the 
time — Evening conferences — Intro- 
ducing the subject — How to proceed 
— Effect upon the child — Morning 
affirmations. 

XV. The Moral Failings of 

Nervous Children . . 180 

The influence of physical defects — 
Lying, stealing and romance weav- 
ing — Cruelty, insolence and pas- 
sion — Lack of moral consciousness. 



XVI. The Child's Literature 

The value of individual choice — Read- 
ing circles — Guidance. 



XVI CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XVII. The Child's Friends . . 192 

The place for friends in the home — 
The association of parents — Making 
and terminating friendships. 

XVIII. The Child's Amusements . 197 

General considerations — Theatres — 
Consideration of general amuse- 
ments. 

XIX. The Child's Possessions . 202 

The benefits of personal possessions — 
Dangers — The effect upon conduct 
and health. 

XX. The Question of Sex . . 206 

Insistence of the child in questionings 
— How to meet them — The value of 
conferences — Ignorance on the sub- 
ject — Enlightenment or continued ig- 
norance — The needs — Preparation by 
the parents — How to handle the 
problem. 

XXI. Evil Habits .... 214 

Bed-wetting — Nail-biting — Head-bang- 
ing — Thumb-sucking — Masturbation 
—Thigh-rubbing— Dirt-eating. 



THE CHILD'S ROOM 

THE child's apartment will of necessity 
be determined somewhat by the size 
of the house and its character. Whenever 
possible, however, the child should have two 
rooms — a bedroom and a playroom. There 
are many features which will apply to both 
rooms, and before taking up the special 
qualifications of either, we will consider 
them together. Rooms which receive the 
most sunlight should be chosen. Thus, a 
room which has a southern exposure will 
best meet the requirements. 

Ventilation is a very important problem. Ventiiati 
The rooms should be thoroughly aired at 
least once, and better twice, daily, summer 
and winter. And even tho this is done, it is 
necessary to secure a sufficient supply of 
fresh air in the intervals between the air- 
ings. There are several effective ways of 
doing this. 

17 



l8 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

ventuate * ' ^e u PP er sasn ma y be brought to the 

bottom of the window, occupying the space 
previously occupied by the lower sash, and 
the lower one pushed clear to the top. If 
the hand be placed an inch or two from 
where the sashes meet, no draft will be 
felt; but if placed close to the glass of what 
is now the lower sash, a strong current of 
air will be felt. The one disadvantage of 
this is that if the child is young and persists 
in getting close to the window, the current 
of air strikes its body. 

2. The upper sash may be lowered for 
six inches and a plain piece of board fitted 
to the space and the sashes closed top and 
bottom. This allows more air to enter than 
does the first method. The advantage of 
this is that the air is directed toward the 
top of the room and no drafts are felt. 

3. There may be set in one of the panes 
of glass an old-fashioned ventilator. But 
ring ventilators are not easy to control and 
are unsightly. 

4. A frame may be made to fit the open 
space of a lowered sash and several thick- 
nesses of cheese-cloth tacked securely to it. 
When the sash is lowered, as it can be any 
number of inches, the cheese-cloth breaks all 



THE CHILD S ROOM IO, 

drafts, and in wet weather, any excess 
of moisture is taken up by the cloth. 

Any of these methods is so simple and 
effective that the value of its use must be 
self-evident. 

The heating apparatus is so closely allied The Heating 

, ,. ., . , Apparatus 

to the question of proper ventilation, that it 
will be considered at this point. There is 
much to be said in favor of heating by the 
open fireplace, or grate, if it be properly 
guarded by screens. By this method of 
heating, the largest degree of ventilation is 
secured with the smallest amount of ex- 
posure. But it is not always practicable, as 
the accommodations for the grate are not 
always at hand. A Franklin heater easily 
holds second place as a means of heating, or 
a good stove may take its place. In the 
cities, the usual heat supplied is that from a 
hot-air furnace, and altho far from ideal, 
it is a good source of heat if provided with 
proper ventilating facilities. 

The child who is compelled to live in an 
atmosphere warmed by steam-heat is unfor- 
tunate, for frequently this is the main cause 
of the child being an easy victim to "colds." 
The rooms which the child occupies should 
never be heated by a gas-stove or oil-heater. 



20 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



Temperature 
of the Room 



The Night 
Temperature 



Lighting 



Either of these methods of heating rapidly 
robs the air of its oxygen and the child is 
thereby compelled to breathe a hot, dry, 
vitiated atmosphere, with its consequent 
harmful results upon the system. 

On general principles, a large volume of 
moderately heated air is much better suited 
to the needs of the child than a smaller 
amount of very hot air. 

It is necessary that the temperature of the 
room be equitable. The commonest mistake 
is to have rooms too hot. The best tem- 
perature is between 65 and 68° Fahr. To 
register the temperature, the thermometer 
should be hung in the center of the room 
and about five feet from the floor, and not 
placed in one corner, as is the common 
practise. 

At night, the temperature of the room 
should be lowered and there is a distinct ad- 
vantage in having that temperature as near 
to 50 Fahr. as possible. Children do not 
take cold from having to sleep in a cool 
room; it is the lack of fresh air and the 
presence of drafts that favor the constant 
tendency to take cold. 

The room is best lighted with a small 
tallow candle or a night-lamp with a small 



THE CHILD S ROOM 21 

flame, if any light is necessary during the 
sleeping hours. And even with these, they 
should be so placed that any noxious gases 
may escape. It is always better, as the 
child gets to the age when it needs less at- 
tention at night, to have no light of any 
kind burning in the room. But during the 
time that light is needed in the evenings, use 
will have to be made of what is provided 
by the house — gas or electricity. Gas con- 
sumes a large quantity of the oxygen of 
the air, and so while burning it provision 
must be made for free ventilation. 

A lamp (other than a small night-lamp) 
has no place in the child's room. It is dan- 
gerous because of its liability to be upset; 
its rapid vitiation of the air, and the proba- 
bility of its giving off noxious gases. 

The first marked evidences of the fact that Hot-housing 

,.,,., , and Deficient 

a child is kept too long in an overheated ventilation 
room will be that that child is easily affected 
by changes of temperature. Therefore, the 
child is the subject of frequent "colds" and 
the usual manner of procedure is to further 
coddle the child. Lack of fresh air is the 
cause of more colds than abundance of it. 
As all persons need fresh air just as freely 
and as regularly as they need fresh food, 



22 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

the want of it will result quickly in im- 
poverishment of the blood. This means that 
the whole system will have to suffer, for all 
organs and parts demand good rich blood 
to nourish them. It is easy to discern that 
with a poor blood supply, all of the tissues 
must be more or less starved and can not 
do their work freely or properly. This 
brings in its train a number of troubles 
which are all dependent upon the poor blood 
supply, and impoverished blood is mainly 
due to lack of proper ventilation. 

Such a child will be somewhat pale and 
easily tired, will not be capable of doing the 
work of the average child, will be peevish 
or fretful and easily exhausted. As the 
physical weakness progresses, the mental 
and finally the moral attitude of the child 
changes, and not for the better. While such 
children do not lose much, if any, in weight, 
they are more or less flabby and are not 
capable of prolonged muscular or mental 
effort. 
hi h g e onhe ish ' As far as is practicable, all crevices and 
dust-collecting spaces should be done away 
with. Unless the floor is made of some hard 
wood, it may be covered with linoleum, with 
protective wood strips nailed at its edges so 



Room 



THE CHILD S ROOM 23 

as to prevent the accumulation of dust. Or 
the floor may be painted as fancy dictates 
and furnished with a rug. Such an arrange- 
ment makes cleaning the room an easier task 
than if a carpet is laid in the room. Boys 
especially are not overcareful, and more dirt 
is usually carried by them into their rooms 
than the average housewife will care to rid 
it of. 

The corners of the room may be protected 
from dust by placing triangular pieces of 
tin in them. All that will be required to 
accomplish this will be four pieces of tin 
and four long, slender screw-nails. 

In the matter of rugs, the work of clean- 
ing is lightened if two small ones are used, 
but on the other hand, if the child plays on 
the floor, its game is interfered with. Upon 
the walls, paint is usually better than paper. 
If paper is preferred, the selection should be 
carefully made, for there is a distinct in- 
fluence which even the furnishings of a room 
have upon the child. A room which is not 
attractive will foster in the child a careless- 
ness which will result in an untidy room. 
Many of the wall-papers which are made to- 
day have a distinct value in the education 
of young children. The windows should be 



24 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

provided with two shades, one white and one 
dark. 

All furniture should be selected with the 
main object in view 7 that it can be easily 
cleaned and dusted. This means that it must 
be as plain as possible. Chairs which are 
provided with cushions are far superior to 
upholstered ones. 
Attractiveness Make the room just as attractive as is 

Of the Room J 

possible and the atractiveness should be of a 
different sort for a boy than for a girl. 
Boys are not fond of ornaments, except 
those which they choose themselves. Girls, 
on the other hand, are pleased with dainty 
things and love ornaments. 

A window-seat is a continual source of 
pleasure to both boys and girls, and can be 
provided with very little expense. The seat 
may be made in the form of a box which 
will serve the extra purpose of a receptacle 
for various things. 

To a considerable extent the child should 
be consulted as to what it shall have in the 
room, but its choice should be guided by 
the parent. At the same time there must 
not be too firm insistence upon carrying out 
the preconceived ideas of the parent. This 
is one way of adding to the attractiveness of 



THE CHILD S ROOM 2$ 

home and it appeals with particular force 
to boys. 

The pictures should be rather inex- p icture9 
pensive ones, for several reasons. Children 
delight in change, and that applies to pic- 
tures as well as to other things. If an 
expensive picture is in the room and a con- 
tagious disease affects the child, it is im- 
practical to destroy the picture, and yet that 
may be desirable. As the child grows in 
knowledge, the pictures, if not expensive, 
may be changed to suit the child's need. 

Boys like good pictures. When a little 
fellow fills his room with undesirable pic- 
tures, it is nearly always because others 
have not been obtainable. They like pictures 
with life in them, such as the Remington 
type, and their choice should be allowed in 
this. 

Until the child is of such age that it can 
be trusted alone, portieres or heavy curtains 
should be dispensed with. At best, they are 
industrious dust-collectors, and are more of 
a menace than a necessity. If they are used 
they should be of rather light material, and 
so placed that there is no possible danger 
from fire. Hung near to a gas-get, they are 
a constant source of danger. 



26 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

Si Rooms ^e rooms should be frequently and 

thoroughly cleaned, and in this procedure 
the child should be early taught to cooperate. 
All dusting must be done with a slightly 
dampened cloth or with a lamb's wool dust- 
er, both of which collect the dust and do 
not simply scatter it. 

Slightly wet salt or sawdust scattered 
upon the floor before sweeping will prevent 
to a great extent the raising of dust. One 
of the various preparations which are made 
for this purpose, and which are very in- 
expensive, will prove effective, and in ad- 
dition they bring out the colors of the car- 
pet if the floor has such a covering. 

The Playroom There is much of imagination in the life 
of every child and this should be fostered 
and guided for use in later life. It is possi- 
ble in most homes to give up one room to 
the child, or if not that, then a part of a 
room, an alcove or a corner of the room, so 
that it can be transformed into an attractive 
and educative spot for the child. It is not 
so much a question of size, as it is of a dis- 
tinctive place. If possible, it should contain 
a cabinet for the toys. A box into which 
the child at the end of its play dumps all of 
its toys fosters only a semblance of order. 



THE CHILD'S ROOM 27 

A cabinet is attractive in itself to the 
child (each parent will remember the subtle 
attractiveness and fascination of old cup- 
boards and cabinets), and if each toy has 
its place and the child is early trained to put 
its toys away, order, a valuable asset, is 
acquired for later years. 

Even in the matter of the selection of a 
desk (if such is provided) you will find that 
the child's point of view differs from yours. 
You think of the comfort of the child's po- 
sition while writing ; the child values its desk 
by the number of its pigeon-holes. If there 
is a choice made of wicker chairs, they can 
be renovated from time to time and a fresh 
coating of paint or varnish will add to the 
attractiveness. 

Make the playroom as attractive as possi- 
ble for the child, but remember that it is not 
alone as an amusement place that the room 
is planned. If thoughtfully arranged, there 
is a distinct educational value in its decora- 
tions and furnishings. It is possible that the 
bedroom of the child will at some time in 
its life become the sick-room. Therefore, 
in the furnishing of this room, there must be 
consideration of certain things : 

1. It must be possible to strip it of most 



28 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

of its furnishings without any great amount 
of labor or delay. 

2. It must be capable of being kept scru- 
pulously clean. 

3. It must be easy to renovate it and it 
must be easily kept clean. 



II 

CLOTHING 

THERE is no use in denying the in- 
fluence of custom and fashion even 
in the matter of the child's clothing. One 
will have to be governed to some extent by 
the prevailing notions- as decreed by those 
who have the fashioning of children's wear 
in hand, but much can be done by the in- 
telligent parent in modifying these dictates 
so that the health and comfort of the child 
is not compromised. 

As the child develops there will be a much 
wider field for choice and variety in the se- 
lection of the clothing and its materials, and 
this is particularly true in the case of girls. 
I believe that it is the part of wisdom to 
consult the child in regard to preferences, 
but always with the thought that the child's 
taste is to be educated and guided — not that 
he or she may unreservedly make a choice. 
It becomes quite necessary that the parent 
understand what the material of which 
clothing is made is supposed to do. Only 
in this way can a correct decision be made. 

29 



30 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



The Main 
Functions of 
Clothing 



Wool 
Clothing 



The main functions of clothing are : 
i. To provide a covering for the body. 

2. For protection against both heat and 
cold, and particularly the former. 

3. For its decorative effect. 

The second mentioned function is the 
most important. Ordinarily we think of 
clothing merely as a protection against the 
influence of cold. It is very important to 
remember in this connection that of all the 
heat that is generated in the human body, 
more than three-quarters is given off by the 
skin. The giving off of this heat is brought 
about through the influence of the clearly 
recognized processes of heat radiation, con- 
duction and evaporation. If the clothing 
be of such material as would interfere w T ith 
these processes, it fails in its most important 
functions and is therefore not entirely suited 
to the needs of the body. 

There is abundance of experience to 
prove that the best protection is afforded 
against cold by wool. And further than this, 
the best protection is obtained from loosely 
woven wool; that is, one in which there is 
a good amount of air space between the 
fibers. Now, these two statements seem 
simple enough, but they need elucidation, 



CLOTHING 31 

because they are of prime importance. Let 
us consider first, the underclothing. 

Why is wool the best fabric ? Because the 
fiber of wool acts in the process of weaving 
as no other material does. If the weaving 
is done loosely, the roughened ends of the 
wool fiber protrude to a considerable degree 
from the surface of the cloth or fabric. This 
protrusion brings hundreds of very fine ends 
in close contact with the surface of the 
body, and therefore keeps the fabric itself 
from coming in very close contact with the 
skin. This allows some air to remain be- 
tween the fabric and the body surface, as 
well as between the fibers of the wool. This 
air is not in circulation, but remains still, 
and so it keeps out the cold better be- 
cause still air is a poor conductor of cold. 
And further than this, wool is a much better 
absorber of moisture than most other fab- 
rics. This quality is so marked that wool 
will not lose its elasticity even when it has 
absorbed its own weight of moisture. After 
it has become moist, evaporation from it 
takes place very slowly, and this is an added 
benefit, for with slow evaporation there is 
little liability of chilling the skin. 

There is a decided disadvantage in wool 



32 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

which will appeal strongly to every house- 
keeper; that is, its liability to be partly de- 
stroyed by the processes of washing and 
ironing or rubbing. The ends of the fiber 
are liable to break off and the whole fabric 
finally becomes harsh and shrunken. Care 
in the washing will eliminate some of this 
trouble or delay its occurrence for a time, 
but inevitably there must be some deprecia- 
tion in the value of the fabric as an article 
of clothing. To a considerable extent this 
disadvantage has been overcome by the 
newer processes of manufacture, so that it 
is possible to-day to purchase materials 
which are guaranteed. 

There is a tendency to accept the rather 
plausible arguments of makers of certain 
fabrics, and so we find persons accepting as 
a fact, that natural wools are superior to 
all others because they are as found in na- 
ture. We can not follow nature blindly, 
and we do not. We cook our food instead 
of eating it raw as other animals do. The 
sheep wears his wool on the outside, and as 
a matter of experience, if he is skinned, his 
pelt makes a warmer covering if the wool is 
worn on the inside. It is not so much the 
material as it is the way that it is woven. 






CLOTHING 33 

It must allow of air between the fibers. We 
wear several garments instead of one. Why? 
Not only because of decoration and utility, 
but primarily because several layers of thin 
clothing, by allowing air between them, keep 
up a greater protection than would the same 
weight in one garment. 

Next in importance to the material of the Comfortable 

. - Fitting of 

clothing is the arrangement of garments, Clothes 
for no matter how suitable the material, if 
it is faulty in construction, it may be the 
cause of much discomfort to the wearer. If 
there is continued constriction at the waist, 
the organs in the upper part of the abdomen 
will be more or less displaced and retarded 
in their activities, and the viscera of the 
lower abdomen will be placed under un- 
favorable downward pressure. It occasion- 
ally happens that excessive constriction re- 
sults in a congestion of the terminal blood- 
vessels of the nose, the ears and the eyes, 
all of which subsides if the pressure be 
stopt. 

Constriction of the abdomen is apt to 
favor the development of ruptures, so that 
not infrequently such a calamity is oc- 
casioned through an unusual muscular ef- 
fort while the abdomen is tightly constricted 



34 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

with a belt. Constriction of the neck may 
be the exciting cause of severe headache or 
of congestion of the head. 
F^t . The modern foot covering is very con- 

Coverings ° J 

ducive to the retention of moisture and to 
chilling of the feet. It is almost impossible 
to secure a shoe which -does not offend in 
this particular, as well as in its shape. The 
natural lines of the foot are not followed, 
for if they were, we would have a triangle 
with the broad base at the outspread toes 
and the apex at the heel. But our shoes are 
just the opposite, and are made of material 
that does not allow of ventilation. Patent 
leather is particularly objectionable on this 
latter account. 

In the winter, with climatic changes com- 
ing as suddenly as they do, it is best to pro- 
tect the child's legs with woolen stockings. 
It is a necessary precaution that the child's 
feet always be kept warm, for chilling of 
that portion of the body for any consider- 
able length of time is a frequent cause of 
ill health. Only in the most extreme cold 
weather are leggings necessary. If worn to 
any great extent, they make the limbs less 
resistant to sudden changes, and are then a 
menace rather than a protection. Usually, 



CLOTHING 35 

they are made of leather, or some equally 
harmful material, which does not allow of 
any ventilation, and the child's limbs are 
encased in a covering which limits the 
healthy action of the skin of those parts. 

An ill-fitting garment or shoe, by making 
continued pressure at one point, or allowing 
rubbing, may be the cause of skin irritation 
in a sensitive child. This irritation reacts 
upon the little one's nervous system, and the 
child fidgets and fusses because of it, and 
may even become mildly ill from that cause. 
New flannel next to the skin will also do the 
same thing in nervous children with sen- 
sitive skins. The child should not be ex- 
pected to fit its clothes, but the clothes should 
fit the child. 

The outer clothing of the child should be £ he t $" ter 
as well-fitting as possible, so as to promote 
the comfort of the body and convenience in 
exercises and games. The material may be 
tasteful, but it should not be so expensive 
that the parent will be fearful of the child 
"mussing" his clothes. While the clothes 
should fit, there must be no restriction of 
any part of the body, and clothes must be 
so planned that they will allow of the freest 
use of the different parts of the body. If a 



36 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



Clothing and 
Exercise 



Neck 
Wrappings 



boy or a girl is to enjoy its games, there 
must be clothing which does not interfere 
with the running, jumping, and other more 
or less violent exercise, which all normal 
children take. 

It is a very difficult matter to regulate the 
child's clothing, so that, under the constant- 
ly varying conditions of violent exercise and 
subsequent rest, there will be proper protec- 
tion. Until the time when the child is sen- 
sible enough to cooperate in this matter, and 
remove its excessive clothing when active, 
and replace it when a period of inactivity 
follows, most of our dependence for protec- 
tion against chilling must be placed upon 
good underclothing. But even a very young 
child will protect himself in this situation, 
if the reason for it is explained to him. The 
difficulty is that most parents overdress their 
children, thinking that in so doing they pre- 
vent chilling of the body, but a child who is 
moist with perspiration is in far greater 
danger of taking cold, or being rapidly 
chilled, than is his playmate who has less 
clothing, but of quality which protects him. 

And now a word of caution in regard to 
the habit of bundling up the necks of chil- 
dren with the thought that it protects them 



CLOTHING 37 

from taking cold. There is no more cer- 
tain way of making a child's resistance to 
attacks of sore throat poor than using a 
scarf or kerchief about the neck. It renders 
the skin tender and non-resistant to changes 
of temperature, and adds a weakness instead 
of protection. If the child is subject to 
throat trouble, the neck-wrappings should 
be left off, and local bathing, as advised on 
page 57, indulged in. 



Ill 

DIET 

THERE is a very marked difference in 
the lives and activities of the child 
and the adult. The difference makes it nec- 
essary that food be so selected that it shall 
best meet the peculiar needs of each. 
The Amount The child's metabolism is much more 

of Food 

active than that of the adult; he consumes 
more of the different elements of food and 
destroys much larger quantities than his 
elders. This is because the child must not 
alone supply its system with material to re- 
pair customary waste, but in addition it must 
supply the elements for continued growth 
and development. 

These needs are such that the average 
child between the ages of five and fifteen 
years will demand a supply of almost twice 
the amount of proteid (compounds of hy- 
drogen, oxygen, nitrogen, etc.), and con- 
tained largely in meats, vegetables, eggs, 
and milk, in proportion to his weight than 
an adult. 

It must not be understood bv this that a 



DIET 39 

child will require twice the amount of meat, 
for instance (which is very rich in proteid), 
as the average adult eats, because I have 
taken the trouble to determine that the aver- 
age adult eats about four times the amount 
of meat which is actually required by his 
system. Therefore, accepting this average, 
the child's portion would not be twice that 
unnecessary amount, but twice the amount 
actually needed by the adult. Roughly 
speaking, then, the amount needed by the 
active child would be about one-half of what 
the average adult actually is in the habit of 
taking. 

It might seem from these statements that Eating with 

° the Adults 

it would be a trying task to regulate the 
child's food to meet its needs and still have 
the child contented at the same table when 
with older members of the family. But this 
is not so, for if the parent understands in 
general the food value of certain articles of 
diet, it is a simple matter to adjust the meal 
to the needs of all. 

A diet list looks a great deal better upon 
paper than the articles do on the dinner- 
plate. We can not lay down any hard and 
fast rules in regard to the matter, for what 
will benefit one child may harm another. 



4-0 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

Even in the same person there are times 
when an article of diet will agree perfectly 
and be palatable, while at some other period 
it will cause distress. There are so many 
factors that affect the digestion of children 
(as activity, convalescence, individual pecu- 
liarity, habit, etc.) that the most that can 
be done is to give to the parent some gen- 
eral rules and allow the judgment of the 
parent and the needs of the child to influence 
the selection. This, of course, applies as 
much to the amount of the food taken as to 
its kind and variety. 
Overeating Overeating is a very common fault. 

There is no doubt that most people take 
more food than is necessary for them, and 
quite a number go further than that and par- 
take of much more than is good for them. 
This is particularly true in childhood, when 
they have not had the benefits of the neces- 
sary experience and guidance. If more 
food is taken than is required, then addi- 
tional work is thrown upon the eliminative 
forces of the system to get rid of it. Habit 
plays an important role just here, and many 
believe they could not get along well on less 
because habit has been so strong. 

There is much greater danger that a child, 



DIET 41 

if left to itself, will eat too much, rather 
than that he will eat too little. It is im- 
practical to lay down rules as to exact 
amounts of food which are required, for 
rules must be adapted to individual cases and 
under definite circumstances. 

Mastication thoroughly done is very es- Mastication 
sential in partaking of food. It is common- 
ly neglected because of the habit, which most 
children are allowed to acquire, of thinking 
that partaking of food is something which 
interferes too frequently with their games 
or outings. 

In some children faulty preparation of 
food for the stomach is undertaken in an- 
other manner; they masticate the food well 
and then wash it down with rather copious 
swallows of some fluid, usually water. In 
its results this is as harmful as incomplete 
mastication. Both habits are apt to lead to 
disordered digestion, or a chronic state of 
indigestion in the stomach and the intestines. 
Even in the matter of the softer foods, as 
oatmeal, soups and the like, the food should 
be taken slowly, so that, in its slow passage 
through the mouth, it may be thoroughly 
saturated with the saliva. But perfect mas- 
tication can not be accomplished unless the 



42 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



Intervals 
Between 
Meals 



Eating Be- 
tween Meals 



Eating Before 
Retiring 



teeth are in fair condition, and if the teeth 
are poor, they must receive the attention 
which their importance demands. 

When a variety of food is taken, it re- 
quires several hours for the stomach to com- 
plete its work; therefore, it is important 
that there be a sufficient time intervening 
between meals to allow the organ to get rest. 
It has been quite clearly demonstrated that 
an interval of from four to five hours is 
needful. If this required interval is per- 
sistently disregarded, the stomach can not 
completely perform its function and the 
health of the individual suffers. 

It is clearly to be seen, then, that eating 
habitually between meals is not consistent 
with the maintenance of health, as it places 
too constant work upon the stomach. The 
partaking of food between meals, or at a 
lessened interval than four or five hours, 
should be reserved for cases of illness, when 
a smaller amount of nourishment more fre- 
quently taken may be of benefit until 
strength is restored. 

Eating before retiring is unnecessary in 
the life of the child, because there should be 
such a regulation of its hours that the ne- 
cessity for food late at night will not arise. 



DIET 43 

If an early supper has been partaken of, and 
the child, from some unusual circumstances, 
has been kept up until a late hour, or five 
hours have elapsed between the time of re- 
tiring and the last meal, there can be no ob- 
jection to giving some very light nourish- 
ment, such as a glass of milk (warmed) and 
a few crackers, or stale bread, or a cup of 
beef tea or broth. But such nourishment 
must be small in quantity and light, because 
during sleep the powers of digestion are not 
as active as usual, and the meal must there- 
fore be one that is readily digested. If it 
it not, then sleep will be restless and un- 
refreshing. 

Flesh foods of different kinds are rich in Flesh Foods 
proteid. Their action on the body, when 
taken as articles of diet, is practically the 
same no matter what the kind of flesh or its 
color. It has been quite conclusively proven 
that white meats are similar in their action 
to red meats, and where one is forbidden, 
both should be. In all meats there is natu- 
rally some difference, because the digestibil- 
ity of a particular kind of meat is influenced 
by the powers of the digestion in the child, 
the state of its health, the manner in which 
the meat is cooked and the part of the ani- 



44 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

mal from which the meat is taken. But dis- 
regarding these differences, we might make 
the general statement that meat that is in 
the first place tender, and then well prepared, 
is easy of digestion, if taken in small enough 
quantities. 

F»sh Fish occupies a peculiar place in the di- 

etary of most people, being very highly 
prized, and the different kinds of fish are 
valuable articles of diet to most persons, but 
some few children never digest them well, 
and in this case, their addition to the diet 
should not be insisted upon. Eels, mackerel 
and salmon are rather hard to digest, be- 
cause of the richness of their meat, but the 
leaner fish are nutritious and easily digested 
by children. As an article of diet, weight 
for weight, fish is of somewhat less value 
than meat. There is nothing, in fact, in the 
commonly accepted theory that a fish diet 
is particularly beneficial in its effect upon 
the nervous system and the brain. 

Eggs Eggs are not always well digested by 

children; in fact, there are many who do 
not relish them and can not digest them 
thoroughly. If they are well digested, they 
act as a most concentrated nourishment. A 
raw egg is about equal in point of nourish- 



DIET 45 

ment to a half-pint of milk, or to several 
ounces of meat. The more an egg is cooked 
the more its value as an article of diet is 
destroyed. An uncooked egg is the most 
nourishing, a very lightly cooked one some- 
what less so, but when an egg is hard-boiled 
its food value is practically destroyed. 

Of the two parts of the egg, the yolk of- 
fers the most nourishment, being richer in 
proteid, mineral matter and fat, while the 
white is less so, but more easily digested. 

Milk is undoubtedly the most perfect food Milk 
of which we know, having in it all the neces- 
sary elements for growth and maintenance. 
If its use as a regular article of diet in child- 
hood was more common, the general health 
and tone of children would be better. The 
difficulty is that, when taken, it is usually 
administered in an improper way. It is not 
best to drink a glass of milk right down, or 
even to drink it slowly and without some 
other food with it. The proper way is to 
take it with a meal and make it a part of that 
meal. There is a very common belief that 
milk disagrees with most children and 
causes in them a state of constipation. It is 
not the food that does this, but the manner 
in which that food is taken. 



46 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



Cream 



Buttermilk 



When the supply of milk is known to be 
good, there is no necessity for heating it. 
Raw milk is the best, if its purity is assured. 
There may be times when the purity of the 
article may be in question and it is then 
wise to heat it, or even to boil it. But when 
so treated the milk is not digestible, nor 
so nutritious, as in the raw state. 

Cream contains much more fat than ordi- 
nary milk, but is not so well taken care or 
by the stomach. It is not so rich in proteid 
material, which is an important element in 
growth. 

Buttermilk is also a splendid article of 
diet, altho not as nutritious as ordinary milk. 
It has distinct use in instances where an 
abundance of fat is not required, or where 
the fat can be supplied by other articles of 
diet. It becomes serviceable in those in- 
stances in which milk is known to disagree, 
or when the palate begins to rebel against its 
continuance. It can now be easily and 
artificially prepared in the home by the ad- 
dition of a proper tablet to fresh milk. 
These tablets are obtainable at the drug- 
stores and the method of preparation is very 
simple. 

Butter should be allowed to children 



DIET 47 

freely, for it is an excellent addition to the 
diet, and probably the most valuable and 
palatable of the fatty substances used at the 
table. It might be supposed from this that 
its value was not interfered with by frying, 
but this is not the case. When cooked, but- 
ter develops acids which render it very diffi- 
cult of digestion, and that is one reason why 
so many children are unable to take fried 
foods more freely. These acids interfere 
with the function of the stomach, so that 
when butter is given it should be used in 
the fresh state. 

Cheese contains about three times the cheese 
amount of nourishment, ounce for ounce, 
that meat does. It is a valuable article of 
diet with certain restrictions. It must be 
well masticated (therefore the harder 
cheeses are best, as they require thorough 
mastication). It must be taken in modera- 
tion, and with other food (as bread or 
crackers), and not at the end of a meal, 
when it places a heavy tax upon the diges- 
tion. 

Vegetables require long cooking, as a rule, vegetables 
to make them suitable as articles of diet. 
When so treated, they usually contain about 
one per cent of solid and ninety-nine per cent 



48 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

of water. This is especially true of green 
vegetables. Potatoes and some of the white 
vegetables are an exception to this rule, be- 
cause they contain a very large amount of 
starch. Vegetables should not be taken in 
large amounts, or to the exclusion of other 
foods, because they do not furnish sufficient 
material for growth and development in 
childhood. As additions to the diet, they 
have some value, but if made the foundation 
of the meal they do not meet the require- 
ments of the growing child, 
cereals Cereals are rich in all of the elements 

needed for body development. In child- 
hood they should form a very large part of 
the dietary. They are easily digested, if 
properly prepared. One of our chief diffi- 
culties is that we are living in an age of 
ready-cooked foods; cereals form a large 
percentage of these. Most of them are un- 
dercooked, altho the manufacturers would 
have us think otherwise. All cereals should 
be well cooked to secure their full advantage, 
and the variety should be such as will please 
the palate of the child. Most of them, when 
well cooked and served with milk, contain 
all the requirements for perfect nutrition. 
All through the period of childhood the 



DIET 49 

foundation of one meal should be a cereal 
and milk or cream. Usually this is best 
taken for breakfast and the supply should be 
liberal. The habit of taking it should be 
formed very early in life. 

Fruits are composed largely of water (8o Fr "it 
to 90 per cent), sugar, acids and cellulose. 
When thoroughly ripened and tender, they 
are valuable additions to the diet of the child, 
because they supply one element which is 
absent in other foods. But they must be 
given in small quantities and when the 
stomach is not filled by other foods. It this 
precaution is neglected, they are very apt to 
cause disturbances of the digestion, with the 
production of large quantities of gas. The 
most easy of digestion are peaches, apples, 
plums, cherries and grapes. Bananas are 
the most indigestible for most children. If 
given, this fruit should be peeled and then 
the edible part of the banana scraped so 
that all the fuzzy covering is removed. 

The real nutritive value of the various 
fruits is small; therefore, they must be used 
simply as additions to the regular diet. 
Cooking of them further takes from their 
value, unless they are cooked with the cover- 
ings on. Fruits that can not be peeled 



50 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

should be thoroughly cleansed, because 
otherwise they will retain impurities which 
are so common to all of them, and which ad- 
here closely to their skins. 
Bread Bread is, of course, a very staple article in 

the child's diet. The question often arises 
as to whether brown or white bread is the 
better. At first this would seem easy to 
answer, because there is abundant literature 
on the subject, but it is unfortunately in- 
spired by men who have certain kinds of 
bread or wheat to sell. 

We must first consider the differences be- 
tween leavened and aerated bread, because 
both brown and white bread may be so 
treated. Now, when any dough is treated 
with yeast, the yeast acts at the expense of 
sugar; that is, in furthering its own action, 
some of the sugar is destroyed. In this way, 
some of the nutrition is taken away. But, 
on the other hand, the yeast makes the bread 
less solid, and being so, it is more readily 
acted upon by the saliva and other digestive 
juices. 
Befweea" Without giving the exact figures, we can 

whit* Brads make the statement that brown bread con- 
tains more fat, more salts, more water and 
more cellulose than white bread, but it is not 



DIET 51 

so easy of digestion. White bread is more 
nutritious than brown bread, if similar 
amounts in weight and not in size are given. 
White bread is less irritating to the intestines 
than brown bread. Brown bread being 
coarser and less easy of digestion, is more 
of an irritant in the intestines than white 
bread, and thereby acts as a stimulant to the 
bowel function, relieving, in a measure, con- 
stipation and any digestive disturbances 
which may be dependent upon it. As an 
abundant supply of mineral constituents is 
required by the growing child, and brown 
bread supplies these, its use may be bene- 
ficial. If fats are poorly taken or digested, 
the use of brown bread will be of benefit, 
as it contains a larger percentage of fat than 
white bread. The chief use of brown bread, 
therefore, seems to be as a means of reliev- 
ing a bowel that is sluggish in its action, 
and of supplying a fat when other fatty 
foods are disliked or disagree. 

Water is an important part of our dietary, Water 
and a fluid in sufficient amount is absolutely 
necessary for the carrying on of nutrition. 
For the average child, the smallest amount 
of fluid which should be taken in the twenty- 
four hours is two pints. Most of this should 



52 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

be in the form of plain water. Of course, 
this will be further influenced by the activi- 
ties and surroundings of the child, for dur- 
ing the warm season when perspiration takes 
place freely, or under conditions when the 
child is active, much more (even twice the 
amount) will be required. 
£ 1 Hab I it' n!t ' An error which is so common that it does 
not at first attract attention, is the habit of 
drinking large quantities of water at meals. 
When water is taken before a meal, the con- 
tents of the stomach are at once prematurely 
diluted, and this results in over-stimulation 
of the organ, as well as a weakening of the 
power of the gastric juice. It is far better 
to have the food moistened by saliva, which 
has an important part to play in the process 
of digestion. If taken at meal-time, the 
best time for water-drinking is after the 
meal, and not before it. 

When taken after the meal, it is less liable 
to do any harm, because the food has pre- 
viously been well saturated with saliva and 
mixed with the gastric juices. But by far 
the best time for water-drinking is between 
meals, and particularly about one hour be- 
fore the meal. At such times it is less liable 
to interfere with the digestive process. 



DIET 53 

Quantities of cold fluid should not be Coid Fluids 
taken at any time, and particularly if the 
child is overheated. Even during the sum- 
mer, the drinking of cold water should be 
discouraged. Iced water tastes good on a 
hot day, but it adds finally to the discom- 
fiture caused by the weather. Cool water 
may be taken freely at proper times, but 
never iced water. 

Coffee is not in any manner a food, but Coffee 
to many persons it adds a distinct source of 
enjoyment to the meal. After the child has 
reached the school age and mental activity 
of the kind that school-life imposes has be- 
gun, a small amount of coffee, properly pre- 
pared and given at the right time, can do no 
harm. The amount should be small— one £™^?atfo"n 
small cup in the twenty- four hours, and not 
more. It should be properly prepared; that 
is, it must be freshly made and not strong, 
and used without milk or cream in it. Plain 
coffee, when taken into the stomach, is dis- 
posed of in about one hour, but when even 
a small quantity of milk has been added, the 
time is extended to nearly three hours, and 
digestion is harder. There are two times 
during the day, at either one of which the 
child of school age may take coffee — with 



54 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

the breakfast, or at the midday meal. When 
taken to excess, it may result in a state of 
nervous excitement, indigestion and sleep- 
lessness, which will seriously interfere with 
the health of the child. 

Tea Tea, like coffee, excites the functional 

activity of the nervous and muscular sys- 
tems when taken in small amounts. The 
activity of the kidneys is excited by its 
action and that also of the skin. This action 
of tea would restrict its use when there is 
any digestive disturbance present, or when 
the child is nervous, or when there is kidney 
disease, or any disease or irritation of the 
skin. There are two chief ingredients of 
tea; thein and tannin, and the latter in ex- 
cess is harmful. If tea is freshly infused, 
at the end of five minutes, standing without 
boiling, most of the thein is extracted and 
also about one-third of the tannin. If the 
infusion is allowed to go on, more and more 
tannin is extracted and the beverage becomes 

Preparation more bitter and harmful. To be allowed in 
the dietary, tea should be freshly and quick- 
ly prepared. The addition of milk is a bene- 
fit rather than otherwise. Tea should not be 
taken with a meal at which meat is the chief 
article of diet, as it interferes with the 



DIET 55 

meat's digestion. It should never be taken 
while the stomach is empty or when it is 
nearly so. Taken continually, tea seems to 
exert an influence upon the bowel function, 
tending to constipation on account of the 
tannin. 

Chocolate is much more nutritious than chocolate 
either tea or coffee, and is much less of a 
stimulant. It is very rich in albuminoids 
and fatty substances, as well as sugar, which 
is added by the manufacturers, and is there- 
fore rich in nutriment. 

It is a far superior beverage for children 
of all ages than either tea or coffee and may 
be taken rather freely by them. If the child 
has a rheumatic tendency, or is of rheumatic 
parentage, the use of chocolate (because of 
its sugar) should be restricted, if not en- 
tirely stopt. 

Candy should be considered under the candy 
subject of diet. Practically every child has 
a craving for sweets, and the proper use of 
candy adds to the joys of childhood as 
surely as its improper use adds to pains at 
the same period of life. I believe that 
every child should have its natural craving 
for sugar at least partially satisfied, unless 
there is some condition, such as rheuma- 



When to 
Give Candy 



56 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

tism, which forbids its use. Candy is one 
means of supplying this valuable nutriment. 
It must, however, be given in moderation 
and at the proper times. 

If given before a meal, sweets are quite 
certain to disturb the digestion and take 
away the appetite; therefore, they must be 
forbidden at this time. If given directly 
after a meal, they act unfavorably also, but 
to a lesser degree. The best time to give 
them is from one to two hours after a meal, 
for at that time they are best digested and 
are less liable to prove troublesome. The 
ordinary cheap colored candies should not 
be allowed. The best is the cheapest in the 
long run, and even a careful selection must 
be made of the best. A choice can be made 
of such candies as Iceland moss, sweet choc- 
olate, plain taffies and molasses candies. 
There is an advantage in candies that last 
for a long time, because the child will not be 
tempted to overindulgence. They should 
not be given just before the time of retiring, 
as this will result in disturbed rest. 
The Appetite The appet i te may De an indicator of the 

child's general condition. When a child 
does not partake eagerly of its food, there 
may be some physical fault. Among chil- 



DIET 57 

dren of a nervous temperament this is par- 
ticularly the case. They appear at the table 
as tho they were ravenous for food, and yet, 
after partaking of a few morsels, appear 
satisfied. Or they may crave, and ask for, 
those things which are known to be hard of 
digestion and unsuitable for them, and the 
sight or mention of good, wholesome food 
seems to disgust them. 

Many children will take meats eagerly, Dislike 

. ° for Food 

but will not eat other food. This is a very 
perplexing situation. If food that is heartily 
disliked is forced upon such a child, one of 
two things will happen ; the disgust for that 
article of diet will be increased, or the food 
will be swallowed as quickly as possible to 
get rid of it. This latter procedure will 
inevitably be followed by the usual conse- 
quences of bolting the food — indigestion. 
Both of these we should wish to avoid. 
There must be a clear distinction made be- 
tween what the child heartily dislikes and 
what a mere whim or daintiness dictates 
that he shall eat. 

It is not difficult to distinguish between the Distinction Be 

... -ii 1- tween Dislike 

two, and when it is determined that disgust and whim 
for a certain article is not inborn, but is less 
intense in its degree and amounts only to 



58 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

a whim, the capriciousness of the child 
should be brought under control at once and 
that article of diet retained in its bill-of- 
fare. 

The best method of which I know is, in 
every instance in which there is an aversion 
to a certain food, to force the child to eat 
at least a small portion of it. If the dislike 
is the result of a whim, the child will soon 
lose it and will afterward eat more heartily 
of that particular article. If the food is ab- 
solutely repugnant, it will bolt the small 
amount and continue to do so indefinitely 
as long as it remains in its dietary, but the 
small amount so taken and bolted will not 
lead to any serious digestive disturbances. 
There is one quite certain way to create dis- 
like for a certain article of food in a child, 
and that is to give a nauseous medicine in it. 
The child will ever afterward associate the 
taking of that food with the taking of the 
medicine. When medicines are required, 
they should be given in some other manner 
than with food. 



IV 

BATHING 

DIRT is dangerous, not simply because 
it is earth, but because it is often com- 
posed of excrement. To be clean is not 
merely an esthetic adornment, even tho it be 
the result of fixt habit and training; it is a 
necessary sanitary measure. In a sense, to 
be clean is to be free from infectious dis- 
ease, for germs are multiplied in filth. Per- 
sonal cleanliness is far more important than 
public cleanliness, for without the former 
the latter is of little avail, and fails in its 
purpose. 

It has been the sad experience of the race 
that dirt is a constant source of danger. Ab- 
horrence of dirt and love of cleanliness, 
which have become so gradually established 
among civilized peoples, are undoubtedly 
due in large measure to this experience in 
the past. 

Systematic or regular bathing should be Systematic 

•ill- 7 , . Bathing 

indulged in, not only because it is required 
for cleanliness, but because a most bene- 

59 



60 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



Functions of 
the Skin 



Skin: as a 

Heat 

Regulator 



ficial effect is thereby produced upon the 
whole system. This applies with special 
force to young persons, because their 
physical activities make tissue changes more 
rapid, and the activity of the skin is, there- 
fore, of prime importance. Through bath- 
ing, the skin is not only cleaned but stimu- 
lated. This is important, because the skin 
has many functions. It is an excretory or- 
gan, just as truly as the bowels or kidneys. 
Through its action as such it rids the body 
of a large amount of carbonic acid, urea and 
water. 

These waste products must be partly elim- 
inated from the body through the skin, or 
else the work which it should do will be 
thrown upon some other organ, notably the 
kidneys, and cause overexertion in those 
parts. If the pores of the skin become 
clogged with excreted material, or if an ac- 
cumulation of material from outside sources 
is allowed to collect, a very important func- 
tion is interfered with. The necessity for 
frequent cleansing must, therefore, be ap- 
parent without unnecessary argument. 

The skin is also a heat regulator. When 
the external temperature is high, radiation 
of heat is favored by a clean, healthy skin, 



BATHING 6l 

and when the temperature is low, heat is 
kept more or less within the body by similar 
action of the skin. 

Liberal and systematic use of large quan- 
tities of water with the possible addition of 
a good toilet soap is the best and safest 
means to insure cleanliness and, therefore, 
the health of the skin. If added to this use 
of soap and water, there is more or less brisk 
rubbing, a stimulation of the skin's activities 
is produced which will further promote its 
healthful functions. The rubbing should be 
sufficiently long continued and brisk enough 
to cause a perceptible reaction of the skin, 
which will be evidenced by the appearance 
of a fine blush to the surface and a sensation 
of warmth and glow in the skin. 

The less one has to do with the various 
inunctions, oils and powders, which are 
recommended so freely, the better. 

It is an excellent plan to have children Frequency of 
bathe daily, when possible. In this way, a 
habit of regularity is formed and the skin 
is constantly kept clean and invigorated. 
But where the conveniences are such that 
the child can not bathe every day, then the 
warm bath (see page 54) should be given 
twice during the week. The warm bath is 



62 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

very cleansing to the skin and adds to the 
health fulness of that structure when daily 
bathing is impossible. But it must be given 
under the precautions suggested, so as to get 
its most beneficial effects. 

Bathing 001 " When surf-bathing is indulged in, or 

bathing out-of-doors in fresh water, the 
child should be allowed to enter the water 
only once daily. That is, there may be a 
time for play or games on shore, then a dip 
lasting for a few minutes ; then another time 
of play and perhaps one more dip, but this 
must not be repeated for a long period. 
Such a procedure in the morning and again 
in the afternoon would prove harmful. If 
a time is to be selected, morning hours are 
the better. 

Temperature After the child is three years old, the tem- 

of Bath J ' 

perature of the bath should be between 8o° 
and 85 ° Fahr. A year later (or at four 
years), the temperature may be still fur- 
ther reduced to 70 , provided the child is 
robust and in health. In older children, a 
lower temperature may be of benefit, but 
after we begin to reduce the temperature 
below 70 ° Fahr., we must consult the feel- 
ings of the child more or less, for there exist 
marked individual differences in the reaction 



BATHING 63 

to cold baths as children develop. Many are 
benefited by lower temperature, but oc- 
casionally any attempt to reduce it will re- 
sult in shock and the child leaves the bath 
unrefreshed and deprest. 

In older children, I find that a very ac- The Tub 
ceptable plan is to have a tub partly filled 
with water and left standing for two or 
three hours before the bath is taken. In 
this way the water approximates the tem- 
perature of the room and, unless the room 
be a cold one, there is no shock to the child ; 
he leaves the bath invigorated and fresh. 

If, after the taking of a bath, the child 
looks blue, is deprest, shivering or tired, that 
bath has done him no good, and may possi- 
bly be doing him harm. The cause may be 
in the fact that the child was in the water too 
long, or the temperature of the water was 
too low. Until the cause is found, the bath- 
ing should not be repeated. 

To know that the child has been getting 
the full benefit of its bath, we should find 
him after the bath lively and invigorated. 
There should be no blueness to the skin, nor 
any inclination to shivering or coldness. 

The cold sponge- or shower-bath is more Cold sponge 

«-.... or Shower 

beneficial, if given in the morning before Baths 



64 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

breakfast. It is of particular value in deli- 
cate children who can not take the full bath, 
or in those who take cold readily. The room 
in which the bath is given should have been 
previously warmed. Then the child should 
be placed standing in enough warm water 
to cover the feet up to the ankles. A large 
bath-sponge should then be saturated with 
water at a temperature of 50 Fahr., and be 
squeezed three or four times over the chest 
and back, while light friction is applied with 
a free hand. The whole operation must not 
exceed a half -minute. Then comes the most 
important part of the bath — the rubbing 
with a rough towel to secure a healthy re- 
action. The skin should show a healthy 
reaction, as indicated by a fine blush, and 
the child should feel a glow which is in- 
vigorating. The rapidity with which the 
sponging is done, and the thoroughness 
with which the rubbing is accomplished, and 
reaction in the skin is excited, are what 
give this bath its value. 
Warm Baths Once or twice a week, the child may have 
a warm bath, and this should always be 
given in the late part of the day. For young 
children (up to five years), who retire early, 
the best plan is to give the warm bath di- 



BATHING 65 

rectly before the evening meal. Then when 
the little one has been rubbed dry and well 
wrapt, he is ready for his supper. When 
his appetite has been satisfied by a light 
meal, he will be ready for bed and will im- 
mediately fall into a deep, quiet sleep, which 
will be most beneficial because of his clean, 
active skin. 

If the warm bath was given to a very 
young child after the evening meal, it would 
keep him up too late, for bathing can not 
be indulged in safely until two hours after 
a meal. In the case of an older child, the 
bath might be taken at bedtime, if that hour 
came at least two hours after the last 
meal. 

Bathing in the surf is quite a different Surf -bathing 
matter from taking a bath at home in salt 
water, no matter how carefully it is pre- 
pared. The influence of the salt water it- 
self is small. The skin does not absorb the 
salt, and there does not seem to be any 
physiological basis upon which we can make 
the statement that salt water is any more 
beneficial than fresh water. 

In many instances, if one is told to bathe 
in water with salt in it, the procedure will 
be completely and carefully carried out be- 



66 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

cause of its novelty or attractiveness. But 
if the same care and thoroughness were 
used with unsalted water, the results would 
be just as beneficial. 
surf B Bath!nJ f The advantages of surf -bathing are that 
the exercise is taken while the child is out- 
of-doors. Exercise of a nature which brings 
every muscle into play is brought about by 
the resistance to moving water, and the 
breaking of the waves liberates ozone in 
large quantity, which, taken in by the lungs, 
exhilarates the whole system. After the 
child is five years of age, it may be safely 
taken into an ordinary surf; but, even be- 
fore this, he may well be prepared for it 
by being made accustomed to the water. 

Usually this will have to be done very 
gradually. The best method is to prepare 
the child for its dip and then, to a very 
great extent, disregard its natural fear of 
the water. Encourage its entrance into the 
water by example, but never lead a child 
forcibly into that of which it has a fear. I 
can not be too strong in my condemnation 
of the brutal practise of an adult forcing a 
screaming, struggling, badly frightened 
child into the water. The terror which the 
little one suffers is great — just as great as 



Overcoming 
Fear of Surf 



BATHING 67 

would be the terror of the adult in case he 
were about to be drowned. Such a practise 
severely shocks the nervous system of the 
child and incalculable harm may be done. 
It will take the passing of years in many 
instances to eradicate the dread which the 
child has thus acquired of water. This may 
be created in a few minutes of brutality 
stalking ahead under the mask of giving in- 
struction. 

In children who are subject to sore Local Bathing 
throat and who catch colds readily, much 
may be done in the line of prevention by 
local bathing with cold water. The tem- 
perature should be between 40 and 50 
Fahr., and the water applied quickly with a 
cloth or sponge over the whole of the neck 
and the upper parts of the chest and back. 
This must be done so quickly that there re- 
mains no time for chilling, and should be 
followed immediately with brisk friction 
over the parts with a flesh-brush or a rough 
towel. The best time to do this is in the 
morning before breakfast. 

If the child's skin at any time shows JJ t e h Bran 
signs of eruption, the bran bath should be 
substituted for the regular bathing. For 
the bran bath, place one pound of bran in 



68 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

a loose bag and put it in the bath-water until 
thoroughly soaked. Then for five minutes 
squeeze it over the water, after which the 
water will become more or less clouded and 
the bath is ready for use. 



SLEEP 

ALL healthy children, like adults, vary in 
the amount of sleep they require. This 
makes attention to individual needs a ne- 
cessity. The tired organism demands a 
period of physiological rest, during which 
there can be repair to the fatigue changes 
which are dependent upon cell activity. This 
rest is called sleep. 

There can be little question that a proper 
amount of sleep, taken under favorable 
conditions, is a matter of great importance 
and is of vital necessity to the well-being 
and proper development of all children. 
This is particularly true during certain 
periods in the life of the child, when the 
physical, or intellectual, functions are sub- 
jected to any influence which places an ex- 
tra strain upon them. 

If one has a clear conception of what The Need 

. . . . for Sleep 

sleep is and of its necessity, there will be 
better appreciation of its value. Practically 
every organ of the body rests or sleeps. 
Even the heart and lungs, which at first 

69 



yO CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

thought seem to be constantly at work, have 
their respective periods of repose. The 
heart has a well-known and definite period 
of rest between each muscular effort of the 
organ. Short as the time is, it is still actually 
a period during which the heart may be said 
to sleep. Nearly every one has recognized 
for himself that, after every expiration, 
there is a period in which the muscles of the 
chest are inactive and at rest. We might 
go on and enumerate instance upon instance 
to elaborate this point. But, further than 
this, during the time when the child sleeps, 
the heart, lungs and other organs of the 
body take on a much lessened activity. Such 
rest is absolutely essential for every organ 
of the body. It is a readily demonstrated 
fact that the body can do better without 
food than without rest. 
Resuhs°o 8 f cal When any organ of the body is at rest, it 
demands less blood supply than when active. 
When there is activity of an organ, there is 
constant wear and tear going on, and that 
creates a demand for an increased amount of 
blood in that part. Then, when the activity 
is over, fatigue takes place and may be felt, 
and the amount of blood in the part is grad- 
ually reduced. For example, when food is 



Activity 



SLEEP 71 

taken into the stomach, more blood is im- 
mediately demanded by that organ ; its mem- 
branes, which have formerly been pale 
during the period of rest, become much 
reddened, and the activity of the whole or- 
gan is greatly increased. But when the 
process of digestion has been completed, the 
activity of the organ subsides and the supply 
of blood is gradually withdrawn. 

A similar process takes place in the brain. 
When that organ is active during the waking 
hours of the child, there is more blood in 
the organ than during the time of perfect 
repose. This is one reason why strong men- 
tal effort should not be undertaken just be- 
fore retiring. An appreciation of a few 
physiological facts will indicate to the parent 
the need of proper sleep for the child : 

1. There must be a reasonable amount of Physiological 

1* acts Regard- 
exercise — sufficient to cause slight fatigue. in « slee P 

If the fatigue is carried to the point of ex- 
haustion, there will be continued congestion 
and the child can not sleep well. 

2. During the period immediately preced- 
ing sleep, there should occur nothing which 
will cause undue excitement, or emotion, be- 
cause that will drive more blood to the 
brain and produce wakefulness. 



*]2 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

3. The room should be darkened and 
quiet, because a light room, or a noisy en- 
vironment, is not conducive to mental 
quietude. 

4. The air of the sleeping apartment 
must be fresh and cool, so as to favor per- 
fect oxidation of the blood through the 
lungs. 

5. The clothing must be sufficiently warm, 
and of such a character as to help the activ- 
ity of the skin, and in no manner hinder its 
action. Warm clothing does not mean heavy 
bed coverings, for these in themselves may 
disturb rest. 

The Time to As has already been stated, there are in- 

Be Spent in ' 

sleep dividual peculiarities in regard to the time 

required for sleep, but there are also some 
clearly denned averages which it is safe to 
follow. Most children suffer from too little 
sleep, and it is common experience that a 
child will often overeat but rarely over- 
sleep. Until the end of the fourth year, the 
child should be encouraged to spend at least 
eleven or twelve hours in sleep. Between 
the fourth and sixth years, ten to eleven 
hours is a good average for the normal 
child. From the sixth to the thirteenth 
year, from eight to ten hours of sleep are re- 



SLEEP 73 

quired according to the activity and pecul- 
iarity of the child. 

But we, as parents, must have a clear Lying in Bed 
idea of the difference between lying in bed 
and sleeping. Many children get into the 
habit of lying in bed while awake, and this 
must be discouraged. After a child of any 
age is thoroughly awake, it should not be 
allowed to lie inactive in bed. Its mind 
must be immediately occupied in some 
healthful manner, even tho the occupation 
be very simple. If a child is left to its own 
inclinations in this regard, there is danger 
that it may give rise to mental states which 
are not conducive to good morals or healthy 
thoughts; habits are thus easily formed 
which will later on injure both the health 
and morals of the child. 

As a matter of general principle, early 
sleepers should be early risers, and cer- 
tainly those children who wake early should 
rise early, or have the mind well occupied. 

No work which is at all exacting or dif- Working 

° Before 

ficult should be undertaken by the child be- Breakfast 
fore breakfast, and this rule applies to men- 
tal effort as surely as to physical. If the 
curriculum of the child's school demands 
study in the early morning, it should be pre- 



74 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



Disturbances 
of Sleep 



Restlescness 
in Sleep 



pared for such mental effort by a suitable 
meal. There can be no objection to a short 
walk, or to some form of light exercise at 
this time, but the more serious duties of the 
day must be delayed until after the morning 
meal. 

During the first hour or two of sleep it 
is most profound, and during, or soon after, 
the second hour the heaviness of sleep is 
gradually lessened, so that after that it does 
not require so strong a stimulus to awaken 
the child. There are many things which will 
interfere with the proper rest of the child, 
and these should be recognized as early as 
possible and corrected. 

Restless sleep is evidenced by the child re- 
maining asleep and frequently changing its 
position in bed. The most frequent cause 
is the presence of nasal obstructions. These 
may be due to enlarged tonsils, or to ade- 
noids (see page ioo). It is particularly sug- 
gestive of this condition, if the child is 
unable to lie upon the back for any length of 
time and if sleep is accompanied by snoring. 

In children who have no nasal obstruc- 
tion, restless sleep is very commonly due to 
an overstrained and excited nervous system. 
If restlessness is marked early in the evening 



SLEEP 75 

and is later followed by quiet sleep, it should 
suggest the possibility of pinworms as the 
cause, for these parasites feed at the rectum 
when the child first retires and later migrate 
higher up in the bowel, causing there no dis- 
turbance. 

When the child wakens frequently, this is Disturbed 
generally due to nervous irritability. Not 
infrequently this depends upon poor or im- 
proper nourishment. Careful consideration 
should be given to the question of diet, for 
it may be insufficient in amount, or of such 
character that it is not easily digested. Fully 
half the instances of disturbed sleep are due 
to this one cause. If the sleeping apartment 
is overheated, or is poorly ventilated, so that 
the child is robbed during sleep of good, 
fresh air, or the bed coverings are insuffi- 
cient or uncomfortable, this will result in 
disturbed sleep. Naturally, with these 
causes present, any undue excitement will 
aggravate the trouble. 

When the child is restless and easily s 1 ^ asy 
aroused, uneasy sleep has indigestion as its 
most common cause. It is a common mis- 
take to allow children to partake of a hearty 
meal late in the day. Of course, the possi- 
bility of the bites of insects must be borne 



76 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

in mind as a cause. A child who is suffer- 
ing from an impoverished condition of the 
blood will always experience uneasy sleep, 
and this uneasiness may be the first thing 
to attract attention to the fact that the child's 
blood is poor. Such children tire readily 
and may be more or less pale in color. 
Teffors Night terrors are due to a fault in the 

nervous system which makes it easily ex- 
cited by any slight irritation, even tho that 
irritation be in some remote part of the 
body. The child awakens suddenly with 
violent screaming and gives abundant evi- 
dence of great fear. This may be repeated 
night after night, or at less frequent inter- 
vals. Night terrors usually attack children 
between the ages of three and eight years, 
and in nearly every instance the attack 
comes on within two or three hours after the 
child has retired. 

The face of the child shows the extreme 
terror which he is in; his eyes are widely 
opened and generally fixt upon one object. 
Sometimes a clue is given to what frighten- 
ed the child by his crying out the name of 
the thing or person. During the attack the 
child will cling to others for protection. 
This period of extreme terror lasts usually 



SLEEP JJ 

only a few minutes, but it may be prolonged 
to nearly half an hour. Following this is 
a period during which the child recognizes 
persons and his surroundings, but for a 
considerable time he remains in a state of 
mild fear and dreads to be left alone. 
During the attack, the child may wet the bed 
or, directly following it, a large amount of 
almost colorless urine may be voided. 

Night terrors should never be allowed to 
continue untreated. They are indications 
that there is a serious fault in the nervous 
system, and this should receive the most 
careful and thorough consideration. 

Sleep-walking is somewhat closely allied siccp- 
to night terrors, because both have as their 
active causes a similar state of the nervous 
system, but in different degree. There is 
such a fascination about the possibilities of 
sleep-walking, that many wonderful stories 
are repeated (and in the repetition they 
grow) of remarkable and impossible things 
which are done by persons so affected. 
While this is not an uncommon complaint 
among children, still they rarely perform 
more than the most simple and harmless 
acts. They may walk or run about the room, 
but seldom do more complicated acts. When 



78 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

awakened, they are not conscious of what 
has taken place. There is absolutely no 
danger in waking a sleep-walker, for the 
shock of doing so is no greater than that of 
awakening any sleeping child. 



VI 
THE BOWELS 

IN order that the child may enjoy a 
healthy physical condition, it is very 
necessary that the bowels be evacuated satis- 
factorily at least once during the twenty- 
four hours. However, it is not at all unusual 
for some children to have two evacuations 
during that period. But if a child has more 
than two bowel movements during the day, 
it is suggestive that something is wrong, and 
this must receive early attention. 

The tendency of the bowels to be evacu- 
ated once daily is further emphasized by 
the fact that, under normal conditions, the 
time of day at which the bowel function is 
performed is approximately the same. This 
normal regularity of the bowel may be in- 
terfered with by acquiring the habit of care- 
lessness in regard to the function. The child 
can not readily see the necessity for attention 
to this important function when it inter- 
feres with its pleasure or its play. And so 
the habit of neglect is easily acquired. 



of Habit 
79 



80 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

habitual constipation the habit of regularity 
must be insisted upon. 

It is a well recognized fact that the in- 
troduction of a quantity of food into the 
stomach, after a fast which has lasted for 
several hours, will almost immediately in- 
crease the activity of the intestines. This 
fact may be made use of in the encourage- 
ment of regularity, for there can be no better 
time of the day to make the performance of 
the act easy than just after the morning 
meal. 

At that time most of the elements are 
present for the easy accomplishment of the 
act. There has been the long fast through 
the night; the partaking of a meal with its 
stimulating effect upon the activity of the 
bowel, and the time of day is such that 
nothing is likely to interfere with the act. 

There should be a de filiate period of each 
day set apart for attention to this function. 
Whatever time of day is finally selected, it 
must be such as can be persisted in every 
day. This must be a part of every child's 
training. And after the time has been se- 
lected, nothing should be allowed to inter- 
fere with it, for a condition or habit of con- 
stipation once established tends to continue 



THE BOWELS 8 1 

and become more and more difficult of over- 
coming. 

There need not be a set hour (that is, by 
the clock), but there must be a set time (as 
related to some meal), and that time should 
be such as is most available each day. The 
hurry to get away to school, or out to play, 
should never be tolerated as an excuse for 
neglect. Even one single infraction may be 
the starting-point of a habit of neglect which 
will ultimately affect the health and com- 
fort of the child. 

Habitual constipation is a very common Habitual 

r J (Chronic) 

complaint in childhood, and shows its bane- Constipation 
ful effects during that period and later in 
life. It is no exaggeration to state that 
fully ninety per cent of cases are the result 
of habit ; that is, the habit of regularity has 
been interfered with and the condition 
brought about in that way. It is not always 
easy to recognize the existence of habitual 
constipation. Most persons think that con- 
stipation only exists when the bowels have 
not been evacuated as frequently as usual. 
Constipation may be said to be present, 
not alone when the bowel movements are 
lessened in number, but when the act of 
evacuation is much more difficult of accom- 



82 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

plishment than usual, when the stool is 
much drier than normal, and when the total 
amount which should be passed is very much 
reduced. Two or more of these factors 
may be present at the same time. 

Habit and a faulty diet are the causes of 
nearly all cases of habitual constipation. 
And when faulty diet is the cause, it is gen- 
erally because the food is too soft, too little 
water is taken or there is drinking at wrong 
times. Soft food being one of the causes 
of this condition, in its correction we should 
aim to introduce into the intestine more 
solid food, which, by the irritation it causes, 
brings about increased activity of the bowels. 
Whole wheat bread is a very desirable ad- 
dition to the diet and may be used freely. 
If a fruit- juice (orange or prune) is taken 
before breakfast, it will act beneficially. 
Prunes may be stewed, or apples served in 
a like manner, and may be given to very 
young children. Occasionally it will be 
found that these measures do not afford the 
necessary relief, and if a small handful of 
senna-leaves are placed in a bag and allowed 
to remain in the vessel in which the prunes 
are stewed, it will add materially to the ef- 
fect. 



THE BOWELS 83 

In older children, one or two figs may be 
eaten before breakfast, and vegetables may 
be taken in abundance, either cooked (as 
peas, string beans, asparagus, or spinach) 
or uncooked (as tomatoes or celery) . Water 
should be taken rather freely, because in 
many instances the consequences of a scant 
supply of water is a dry and hard stool. 

I have found that girls are apt purposely 
to avoid the free drinking of water, because 
they do not wish to have to empty the 
bladder several times during the day. A 
large cup of hot water before breakfast, or 
a large cup of cold water taken just before 
retiring, or the use of both for a time, will 
do much to bring relief to this condition. 

In many children, milk is constipating, 
because of the manner in which it is taken. 
As an article of food, milk should not be 
taken as liquids are, but must be taken very 
slowly and along with other food. With 
the milk, the child may be given some 
crackers or bread. If used in this manner, 
milk is rarely constipating. The use of milk 
that has been subjected to a high tempera- 
ture, or to boiling, may be the cause of con- 
stipation in a child. The free use of mo- 
lasses is Vneficial in many instances. 



84 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

Ex erdse e ° f Exercise has much to do with the activity 
of the bowel, and lack of it or restriction 
in its practise may cause constipation. This 
is why massage is often so beneficial; it ex- 
ercises the abdominal muscles. But irre- 
spective of massage, exercise which brings 
into play the muscles of the abdomen may 
be indulged in. 

In the formation of the habit of regu- 
larity, it may be permissible to use a sup- 
pository occasionally until the habit is 
formed. At the time selected for having 
the bowels evacuated, should there be no 
result, the suppository may be inserted, and 
will aid in the accomplishment of the act. 
Glycerine suppositories are the best for this 
purpose, because they are more irritating to 
the rectum and are quickly expelled. 



VII 



THE TEETH 



THE first of the permanent teeth to 
appear are the four first molars, or 
as they are more commonly called, "the six- 
year molars," because of the usual time of 
their eruption. They do not replace any of 
the temporary teeth, because the jaw has 
developed sufficiently to allow their appear- 
ance back of, and next to, the second molars. 
After the appearance of these four, the 
order in which the other permanent teeth 
are erupted is almost identical with the erup- 
tion of the temporary teeth. The four in- 
cisors appear between the seventh and 
eighth years, the four bicuspid between nine 
and ten, the four canines about the eleventh 
year and the four second molars between 
twelve and fourteen years. 

This practically completes the appearance 
of the teeth (28) in childhood, because the 
remaining four teeth are not erupted until 
much later. These latter are the four third 

85 



86 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

molars (wisdom teeth), which make their 
appearance between the seventeenth and 
twenty-fifth years. 

Care of the The eruption of the first, or temporary, 

teeth is very commonly attended with some 
slight disturbance, and after their appear- 
ance they are usually neglected because they 
are temporary. But they are important and 
should receive care similar to that bestowed 
on the permanent teeth. The habit of 
cleanliness should be early inculcated in the 
child, and in regard to the teeth this care 
must apply to both sets. The care of the 
teeth should be started with the temporary 
set and carried on throughout the life of the 
individual. The hygiene of the mouth 
alone demands that this care be given. 

individual Each member of the household should be 

Brushes 

provided with his own tooth-brush, so 
marked that it can be readily distinguished. 
It is possible now to secure such brushes 
marked with different colored handles. It 
is best to clean the teeth directly after every 
meal. If this is done, it will require little 
time, because all that will be necessary is 
to remove all particles of food which may 
have become lodged in the mouth or between 
the teeth. In this way the mouth is kept 






THE TEETH 87 

clean and the membranes in a healthy state, 
insuring firm gums to protect the teeth. 

If the cleansing is done onlv once daily Frequency of 

J _ J Cleansing 

there are several particles of food which 
will be allowed to remain in the mouth for 
several hours. The heat of the cavity favors 
decomposition and fermentation, which will, 
in time, cause decay and soreness. And 
when not done frequently the brushing must 
be more severe, and that may result in in- 
jury to the gums. 

Whenever possible, it is advisable to have Systematic 

1-1D • 11-1 Inspection 

the child s teeth inspected and cared for by 
a competent dentist at regular intervals 
(about twice during the year), so that any 
initial decay or other trouble may receive 
the most prompt attention. 

It is neither safe nor wise to wait until the 
destruction is such as to cause an amount of 
discomfort which will compel attention. 
Children are careless in this matter, and will 
fear to complain, because they have a horror 
of going to the dentist. This comes largely 
through the fact that they are often taken 
there when the trouble with the teeth has 
been of long standing, and any manipula- 
tion, no matter how gentle, is painful. 

Xcglect in this matter will lead to early 



88 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

decay of the teeth, and as they are so prom- 
inently concerned in the preparation of the 
food for the stomach, by the process of mas- 
tication, every care should be given to pre- 
serve their integrity. 



VIII 

WEIGHT AND HEIGHT 

IN very young children — that is, those be- 
tween the ages of three and five years — 
the weight during the summer months re- 
mains stationary, or the gain is very slight. 
It is in the early fall that these children 
show their largest gains. During this 
period girls gain in about the same propor- 
tion as boys. 

The smallest gains in weight are generally 
made between the fifth and seventh years, 
and during this period there is rarely a gain 
of over four pounds a year in a child who is 
developing normally. Of course, if a child 
has been of underweight from any cause, a 
greater gain than this may be expected until 
nearly the normal has been reached. Then, 
for the four years which follow — that is, 
between the seventh and eleventh years — 
there is an average gain of about six pounds 
yearly. 

The most marked differences between Differences 

Between 

boys and girls come during the next few *???[;! and 
years, and the averages are as follows : 
During the twelfth year, the boys gain seven 

89 



9o 



CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



pounds and the girls eleven. This difference 
is not so marked the next year, when the 
boys average nine pounds to the girls ten. 
During the fourteenth year, boys gain more 
than girls, the respective averages being 
eleven and nine pounds. During the fifteenth 
year, boys gain eleven pounds to the girls 
eight. These differences need to be borne 
in mind when making a comparison between 
the sexes. The following table will give, 
approximately, what children should weigh, 
and also what the average heights are for 
different ages. 

Table of Average Weights and Heights 



AGE 


POUNDS 


HEIGHT 


Years 


Boys 


Girls 


Boys 


Girls 


5 


41 


39 


3 ft. 5 


3 ft. 4 


6 


45 


43 


3 ft. 8 


3 ft. 7 


7 


49 


48 


3 ft. 10 


3 ft. 9 


8 


54 


52 


4 ft. 


4 ft. 


9 


60 


57 


4 ft. 2 


4 ft. 1 


10 


66 


64 


4 ft. 4 


4 ft. 3 


11 


72 


70 


4 ft. 6 


4 ft. 5 


12 


79 


81 


4 ft. 8 


4 ft. 9 


13 


88 


91 


4 ft. 10 


4 ft. 10 


14 


99 


100 


5 ft. 1 


5 ft. 


IS 


110 


108 


5 ft. 3 


5 ft. 1 



WEIGHT AND HEIGHT 9 1 

In computing the weights of children, ^ e - r ^ of 
some allowance must be made for differences ci° thin s 
in clothing, but I have found the following 
to be the average. At five years, the cloth- 
ing weighs about four pounds ; at six years, 
three and three-quarters pounds; at seven, 
three and one-half; at eight, four pounds; 
at nine, five; at ten, five and one-half; at 
eleven, six ; at twelve, six ; at thirteen, seven ; 
at fourteen, eight and one-half, and at fif- 
teen years, nine pounds. For summer cloth- 
ing, from one to two pounds must be de- 
ducted from these averages, which are for 
winter clothes. 

Of course, it must be remembered that 
all these figures are averages; that they are 
the results of an examination of a limited 
number of children, and in one locality. If 
we could have access to a large number of 
such figures from many sources, this would 
add to the value. But, even if we had such, 
there would have to be a liberal allowance 
made for individual peculiarities, for some 
children, irrespective of their parentage, re- 
main short in stature, while others grow 
tall. The environment of the child and the 
care that it receives, its nourishment and its 
work, arc all important factors. 



Fat 



92 CAKE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

But we must have some average to guide 
us, and if too much emphasis is not placed 
upon the figures as set down in the foregoing 
table, we shall have something to base a 
comparison upon. There are some children 
children AV i 10 become excessively fat, and it will 
usually be found that they are large eaters 
and inactive in their habits. In such cases, 
all fatty foods should be restricted, or ex- 
cluded from the diet, and this would apply 
particularly to butter and milk. Skimmed 
milk could be used in moderation; that is, 
not over one pint daily. Sugars should also 
be excluded. Exercise must be encouraged, 
and, if needs be, insisted upon, and when 
once undertaken there must be regularity 
and persistence in it. 

Most cases will yield in time to these 
measures, which are so simple that there is 
danger that they will not be carried out long 
enough. The giving of drugs to reduce 
obesity is dangerous, unless given with the 
permission and advice of a physician. 



IX 



EDUCATION AT HOME AND IN THE 
KINDERGARTEN 

IT is almost impossible to give a clear-cut 
definition to "education." It means so 
many different things of which we have 
alone the evidence, that the more completely 
the parent realizes that "book-learning" is 
not all of education, the better for the child. 
Familiarity in use of the word has stood in 
the way of a full appreciation of its scope 
and limitations. It must, however, be ad- 
mitted that much of book-learning has no 
real bearing upon education; that there is a 
great deal of true education which the child 
must acquire from other sources than books. 
The education of a child begins at its birth, 
or at the time when there is personal re- 
lationship between parent and child. This 
leads us to consider the place of birth of a 
child's education — the home. 

The words of the familiar song, "There The Home 
is no place like home," apply with special 
force to the education of a child, for there 
is no place where training is more efficient 

93 



94 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

in results, or more lasting in influence, than 
the home. In point of time alone, the child 
is under the influence of home more than he 
is of any school (except the boarding- 
school), and those influences abide for the 
whole of life. The foundations of human 
life, for both time and eternity, are laid in 
the home. 
Home in- When the elements of a true home life 

fluence Upon 

Schooling exist, the home will influence the schooling 
through all the years. No matter what 
school the child may attend, the home will 
easily hold first place in point of influence 
and guidance. It is impossible to conceive 
of any institution of learning which will so 
effectively influence the character, the in- 
tellect or the conduct of the child as the 
home. The child may learn much in school, 
but the nature of the home gives the pecu- 
liar meaning to all things. Even the words 
which the child is taught may often have no 
real significance until the associations of 
home bring the meaning to the fore. 

The child for a long time will love that 
which mother loves; believe that which 
father believes; and think that whatever 
either does is right. The opinions, teach- 
ing, example and cooperation of parents are 






EDUCATION AT HOME 95 

paramount to the child, and, in spite of all 
that the school may do and teach, these re- 
main uppermost in the mind of the child for 
years. 

With the advance of ideas and education T he 
and the restlessness which is a prominent m ergar 
feature of the life of to-day, children are 
sent to schools at an earlier period than for- 
merly. This has resulted in the rapid growth 
and spread of the kindergarten. 

This tendency to push the education of 
the child is a serious mistake and works 
harm. This is not always the fault of the 
parent alone; it is apt to be encouraged by 
unthinking teachers who are overanxious to 
have children take up school work at an 
early age. Every parent would be wise to 
consider this matter very carefully before 
finally reaching a decision. 

Frequently, children are sent to the kin- Disadvantages 

... , . of Kinder- 

dergarten simply to be amused, or to givegarten 
to the mother the rest which she imagines 
she needs. A strange teacher is thus per- 
mitted to relieve parents of the bother of 
training and educating the child in its tender 
years. Is it right or wise unthinkingly to 
turn a child over to the care of another? The 
importance of the matter is so great that 



96 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

the decision to do so must come after much 
deliberation. The instruction at the kinder- 
garten often forms a small part of the ex- 
ercises, and what there is of it is sometimes 
of doubtful value. 

oVnln^er- 5 ^ ut we must sav tms f° r tne kindergarten, 
ganen jf j ts wor k j s so planned that it will encour- 

age the child in the proper control of its 
emotions, will inculcate the habits of right 
conduct and guide the imagination, it will 
have more than justified its existence. The 
kindergarten is a tremendous boon to poor 
children, those who are compelled to live 
amid surroundings which are not con- 
ducive to good living. Under its influence 
the child is taught the value and practise of 
honesty, of fair play and of courtesy. He 
meets with gentlewomen who have been 
trained to bring out the best that is in him. 

It would be well if cities would see to it 
that the poorer sections are adequately sup- 
plied with such institutions and with such 
teachers. But when the child goes to a kin- 
dergarten, there he is met with the same ele- 
ment of dangers to health as when he at- 
tends any other school, and as these are 
fully considered in the following pages, they 
need not be mentioned here. 



EDUCATION AT HOME 97 

The best teacher for the child is its 
parent and, while much of the instruction 
must of necessity be given over to others 
specially trained for the work, the wise 
parent will never relinquish the right and 
opportunity which he or she has in the edu- 
cation of the child. 



o 



EDUCATION AT SCHOOL 

NE'S life might be said to be divided 
into four periods, analogous to math- 
Kr e io F dT r ematics — addition, subtraction, multiplica- 
tion, and division. The addition time of 
life is early childhood, the time for great 
acquisitions. During its continuance the in- 
dividual is capable of acquiring a large 
amount of impressions, but he is not capable 
of making a selection. One of the child's 
weakest points lies in this early selective 
faculty. There is no more reason why he 
should know what is best for his mental de- 
velopment than that he should know what 
is proper for his food. 

Addition is followed by subtraction. The 
subtraction time of life is the time when the 
child becomes self-conscious, begins to 
make his choice and deliberately eliminates 
from its life materials which are felt, at first 
instinctively and then rationally, to be un- 
pleasant or unnecessary. It is during this 
period that the most of us discover our func- 
tion in life. These two periods are prepar- 
• 98 



EDUCATION AT SCHOOL 99 

atory for the third — the multiplication time. 

In this period, the individual, equipped by 
the processes of addition and subtraction, 
goes out to fulfil his function; to multiply 
his knowledge ; to give of what he has re- 
ceived; to make his presence felt in the 
world; in a word, to reproduce himself; to 
multiply his personality. And inevitably to 
each one comes the dividing time of life, 
when the sum of the physical and mental 
powers that were active wane, and the 
energy that once was is divided. 

We are interested here only in the first ^sdeSSm 
and second periods, the periods of addition 
and subtraction, for it is these periods which 
embrace the life with which the school has 
to do. I have intimated that the addition 
period, the time of very early childhood, is 
characterized by a large capacity for acqui- 
sition and an incapacity for selection ; and 
that the subtraction period, the period of 
later childhood and youth is characterized 
no less by acquisition, but also by an in- 
creasing capacity for selection. 

It follows, therefore, that the duty of the Duty of 

Parent and 

parent or teacher is, first, to make for the Te aci»er 
child a proper environment; and, second, to 
assist the child in his all-important power of 



IOO CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



Health and 
Education 



What is 
Health? 



selection. To his capacity for acquisition 
there should be brought the things worth 
while. To his power of choice there should 
be brought the illumination of a wise ex- 
perience. 

In the doing of these things, the parent 
must take counsel with the child's individual 
fitness; in a word, with the child's health. 
For health is to education what foundation 
is to superstructure, and a building's use is 
proportioned to the strength of that build- 
ing's foundation. From the physician's 
point of view, the attempt to separate health 
and education will result in certain failure; 
the preponderance of either will invite dis- 
aster. They are interdependent. And with- 
out inward training and control, outward 
health is an absolute menace. Ungoverned 
physical strength and passion are brutal, 
even tho the body of them be human. And 
of what service is a well-developed mind, 
with all its powers aroused, unless beneath 
it all there is that condition of body which 
will allow its unhindered activity. 

What is health ? It is quite necessary that 
we have a clear idea of what health stands 
for. To physiologists, it is a term of pre- 
cision indicating an actual state of the living 



EDUCATION AT SCHOOL 1 01 

body. To them it suggests a picture. Fa- 
miliar as they are with the various tissues of 
the body and their delicate adjustment to 
one another, they can bring into their minds' 
eye an image of the normal life which con- 
stitutes health. 

The living child, when closely examined 
from a physiological standpoint, reveals it- 
self as a complicated mechanism like a 
watch. When a watch is working well, each 
part of the mechanism complementing the 
others, we say that it is a good timepiece. 
If the mechanism of the child's body is 
working well, each organ of the body acting 
in perfect accord with the others, we speak 
of that action as normal, or as in a state of 
health. 

A state of health demands that there be Physiologic 

Health 

coordination and cooperation of parts; 
that the intricate yet correlated functions of 
each organ be carried on freely and without 
pain. To illustrate: A child in perfect 
health becomes effected with an accumula- 
tion of the normal secretion of the ear, 
which, through neglect, has not been re- 
moved. The result of such an accumulation 
is partial deafness. Immediately the child 
is deprived of one avenue of education. 



102 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

Strain, in an attempt to hear more clearly, 
results in certain reflex disturbances in dis- 
tant parts of the body. The child appears 
dull and stupid, and being accused of that 
fault, begins to believe it is stupid. Dis- 
couragement on that account brings into 
play other undesirable emotions. The sen- 
sitive and undeveloped nervous system is 
damaged and the child becomes ill. 

Where was the fault ? It is in the failure 
of one organ to act in harmony with the rest 
of the body. We must take the physiolo- 
gist's view. We must think of the body, 
not simply as a piece of machinery, made up 
of parts or organs delicately assembled and 
coordained, but as a mechanism which is 
not made, but grows. This living mechan- 
ism runs down and stops at death; and 
while in theory death occurs only when 
there is a wearing out of all the parts, in 
reality the mechanism does not wear out, 
but some one organ breaks down, gives out 
before its time, and by its own failure in- 
volves the whole mechanism. Some of this 
premature breakdown results from inherited 
weakness; some congenital flaw in the ma- 
terial, but the larger part is the result of a 
maladjustment to environment. It is im- 



EDUCATION AT SCHOOL IO3 

portant to remember that the constitution of 
the adult is dependent almost entirely on the 
care that the body received during the 
period of childhood. 

Now, how is modern school-life related M° de ™ 

Schools 

to the health of children? As early as the 
twelfth century, it is recorded that physi- 
cians used to visit places of assembly desig- 
nated for those who were to receive instruc- 
tion. And altho the service rendered by 
these physicians at that time was of doubt- 
ful value, it still suggests to us that, even 
at that early day, there was a recognition of 
the intimate relation between education and 
health. 

But it was not until recent times that a School 

Inspection 

well-organized plan of medical supervision 
of schools was adopted. In 1833, France 
had laws passed which required certain 
cities to inaugurate a system of medical in- 
spection of schools. And since then the 
idea has gained ground, so that, in place of 
medical inspection, many cities have adopted 
the plan of medical supervision. Medical 
inspection of schools only partly solves the 
problem of the best interests of the child. 
It, in a certain degree, protects the child, 
and particularly from the dangers of infec- 



104 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



School 
Supervision 



Moral 

Obligation of 
the State 



tion ; but it is necessarily limited in its scope ; 
it can suggest but it can not remedy. 

Medical supervision has advantages of 
inspection with the added value of unlimited 
action; it brings about unity of action be- 
tween the educator and the physician. It 
suggests the means by which the child can 
be kept in that state of physical vigor which 
is commensurate with the possibilities of 
proper education. And so the idea has 
steadily grown and, without accumulating 
instances, we might cite Japan, where the 
idea of medical supervision of schools was 
first adopted in 1893, and where to-day she 
has nearly 9,000 physicians who cooperate 
with the Department of Education in the 
training of her future citizens. 

Since education is necessary, and at- 
tendance upon school is almost uniformly 
compulsory in this country, it is a moral ob- 
ligation which the State must assume to 
protect the child from the greatly increased 
risk of contraction of diseases to which, by 
the modern school conditions, he is exposed. 
And this moral obligation does not end when 
the risks of school-life are minimized. Safe- 
guarding the child while he is in actual at- 
tendance upon school, is only a small part. 



EDUCATION AT SCHOOL IO5 

The conditions which prevail in the home 
of the child should also be learned. In fact, 
in the matter of contagion, the greatest 
source of danger to the health of the school 
attendant is, not from the companion or as- 
sociate who is acutely ill with disease and 
can not hide it, but from the mildest cases 
of contagious diseases, and from those who, 
while remaining in a state of health them- 
selves, carry disease to others. And in this 
matter every parent should feel it a clear 
duty to cooperate. 

There is a tendency to disregard the Moral , 
rights of other children, and because the ofParents 
city or the State is so stringent in its laws 
to safeguard the health of the school-child, 
many parents become negligent in the mat- 
ter and are willing to overlook their own 
duty. 

There is an obligation to protect the child 
further; every source of danger to health, 
no matter what its origin, must, so far as 
possible, be eliminated. If the State does 
less than this at the same time that it com- 
pels the child to attend school, it falls far 
short of its duties. It is not sufficient to 
have compulsory schooling; there must also 
be proper schooling. And if parents do not 



106 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



Cooperation 
Between 
State and 
Parents 



School 

Methods that 
Affect 
Health 



The Risks 
of Contagion 



see to it that, in the home every possible as- 
sistance is given in the carrying out of these 
measures by the State, they fall short of 
their duty to their children and their obliga- 
tion to the rights of others. There are 
several things which accompany modern 
school methods and affect the health of the 
child. 

First, there is the very close association 
with a company which is not of the child's 
choosing. 

Second, there is an abridgment of the 
child's liberty for several hours each day. 

Third, there is an adjustment of the 
child's life to strange conditions, both 
physical and mental, especially an adjust- 
ment of special organs to conditions which 
were previously unknown. 

Now, it is a well-recognized fact that 
when school-life begins, the child is exposed 
to greater risk from contagion. Close as- 
sociation with other children for several 
hours each day, and for several days each 
week, gives increased opportunity for con- 
tracting a contagious disease., How fre- 
quently we have heard the remark made: 
"My child was always in good health until 
we sent him to school," and then follows a 



EDUCATION AT SCHOOL IO7 

history of illness with one or more con- 
tagious disease. 

We take this point for granted when, in 
times of known infection, schools are closed 
to prevent a spread. Infectious diseases are 
not uncommon during the period preceding 
the beginning of school-life, for the younger 
the child the more susceptible it is to external 
influences. But the period of school : life 
claims further victims, and particularly those 
children who have not been infected before. 
The plain duty is to exclude from school 
such children as show evidences of ill health, 
which might possibly be the first sign of an 
infectious or contagious disease. And it 
must be remembered that the possibility of 
transmission rests, not alone with the child 
who may be infected, for disease may be 
carried through third persons. 

Owing to the severity of many infectious Precautions 

1 1 • r/ , Against 

diseases and their consequent effect upon the infection 
life of the child, and their well-known se- 
verity with young children, every possible 
precaution must be taken to delay as long as 
possible their occurrence. 

A great deal of care must be taken with 
scarlet fever. This disease is commonly car- 
ried through the peeling of the skin, which 



108 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

so often takes place several weeks after all 
active signs of the disease have disappeared, 
so that the mere act of hand-shaking is suffi- 
cient for transmission. We know that, after 
local conditions in the throat have cleared 
up, for a long period diphtheria bacilli are 
still present in the mouth ; through their 
agency the disease may be transmitted to 
another child. 

The same is true of whooping-cough, 
which is readily transmitted by discharges 
from the nose and mouth, and is contagious 
for a long time. And so we might go on 
and recite instance after instance, and dis- 
ease after disease. 
The influences j] ie c hild by nature is a playful animal re- 

of Restraint J l J 

belling against constraint, and if he be re- 
strained too much, his health is bound to 
suffer. Restraint is not merely a question 
of minutes or hours ; it must adapt itself to 
the individuality of the child. A new life 
begins for the child the first day it is entered 
at school. The open-air life to which it has 
been accustomed must now give way to 
housing for several hours a day. Unre- 
strained play must, in like manner, be re- 
prest. and opposed to the previously unre- 
stricted libertv are the necessary method, 



EDUCATION AT SCHOOL IO9 

routine and discipline of school-life. It is 
necessary that everything possible be done 
to reduce to a minimum the injurious effects 
which these new conditions in the child's 
life are liable to bring about. 

The harmful effects of school-life will School 

Sickness 

show sooner or later in those children who 
are unprepared for daily attendance upon 
school; nervous, anemic and under-nour- 
ished children, these are the first to suffer. 
So common is this that a general term of 
"school-sickness" has been coined to desig- 
nate it. Its manifestations are varied, but 
the more common is that the child becomes 
languid, irritable, peevish or hysterical, and 
may suffer from headache, loss of appetite, 
impoverishment of the blood and sleepless- 
ness. 

Prevention, altho not always possible, is h^"^ " of 
better than cure, and much can be done along Influences 
the line of preventive measures. The class- 
rooms should be as large and airy as it is 
possible to have them, and the number of 
pupils should be restricted within limits 
which are conducive to the perfect per- 
formance of the function of respiration. 
The modern school-building is well con- 
structed, and particular attention has been 



110 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



The Parent's 
Duty 



Adenoids 
and Educa- 
tion 



paid to the subject of ventilation. As time 
goes on, the laity are realizing more and 
more, what physicians have been teaching 
for years, that the child needs good fresh 
air, just as much as it needs good, fresh 
food, and requires it with just as much regu- 
larity. Oxygen, which is obtained in such 
abundance in good, clean, fresh air, and is 
so grudgingly supplied by a stale atmos- 
phere, is absolutely essential to the proper 
development of the child and its continuance 
in mental exertion. 

But what shall we say of the parent whose 
child is amply provided for by the State in 
this regard, and yet who refuses to have re- 
moved from the child's throat or nose a mass 
of harmful tissue, which by its presence pre- 
vents the proper inhalation of the air pro- 
vided ? Let me illustrate : 

A child is sent to school, in which hygienic 
conditions are as nearly perfect as it is possi- 
ble to make them, and a school in which this 
child's teacher is one who has some under- 
standing of the laws of hygiene. There is 
every condition about the school and its 
management to insure for that child a suc- 
cessful performance of the function of res- 
piration, but partially blocking the passage 



EDUCATION AT SCHOOL III 

between the child's nose and throat is a mass 
of tissue which is called adenoids, and fre- 
quently associated with this there is an en- 
largement of one or both tonsils. Such a 
condition makes breathing more or less diffi- 
cult for the child, and as the demand for air 
is insistent, the child takes it in through the 
mouth, instead of through the nose, and this 
results in a characteristic facial expression 
in this child. The mouth is kept partly open, 
the eyes are dull and heavy, giving an ex- 
pression of stupidity. As the taking of a 
full and free inspiration is impossible, the 
chest remains undeveloped. As less air goes 
to the lungs, so less oxygen goes into the 
blood, and so the nutrition of definite parts 
and organs, which are dependent upon a good 
blood supply, suffers. In nearly two-thirds 
of cases deafness is present, and this is en- 
tirely dependent on the presence of adenoids. 
This deafness brings about a condition of 
mental torpidity, so that frequently the 
child is blamed for mental incapacity alone, 
when in reality there is a removable physical 
basis for its condition. The child is unable 
to concentrate his attention and becomes in- 
different. Such a child can not be properly 
educated until conditions are made suitable 



112 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

for mental effort. It is not only on the basis 
of the health of the child that there is need 
for a correction of this deformity, but the 
best interests of education demand it. 
Desks The strongest criticism of the modern 

school-building is related to its furnishings, 
and particularly to the desks which are pro- 
vided, and the criticism is usually justified. 
The child must early be taught to sit in a 
correct position, and if such teaching is to 
be efficient, proper provision must be made 
in the way of furniture. A faulty position 
assumed at the desk should be corrected at 
once, because, through a lack of attention 
to this detail at this time, curvature of the 

Proper 

Desk* spine may result. The desks should be 

suited to the size of the child, and the child 
should not be expected to fit a desk of any 
size that may be provided. It should be so 
constructed that the child can sit at it in a 
comfortable, upright position, and without 
cramp or fatigue. The height of the chair 
should equal the length of the child's leg, 
allowing the sole of the foot to rest squarely 
upon the floor. When thus seated, the top 
of the desk should be on a level with the 
child's elbow. The back of the desk must 
be slightly higher than the front, so as to 



EDUCATION AT SCHOOL II3 

allow of a suitable slant for the assumption 
of a proper position in writing. 

It is unfortunate that desks adopted and 
in use in some parts of Sweden, and lately 
introduced into Great Britain, are not used 
more generally. They are so constructed 
that they may be adjusted to a proper height 
for each child. In addition to this, they may 
be turned over by means of a hinge-joint in 
the flooring, so that, in cleaning the room, 
every part of the desk and the flooring be- 
neath it becomes accessible and exposed to 
view. Absolute cleanliness of the school- 
room is of such prime importance in pre- 
venting the spread of disease, that this mat- 
ter of proper cleaning should be given con- 
siderable attention. 

It has been the experience of the race that Dangers of 

... , r . . Dirt and 

dirt is one of the most effective carriers of Dust 
disease. Late research has shown that dust 
is, as a rule, rich in bacteria. In the open, 
the unfavorable conditions to which micro- 
organisms in dust are exposed — namely, 
desiccation, unfavorable degrees of tempera- 
ture, light and air — undoubtedly destroy 
some and weaken others, but this protection 
is not offered by the school-room. Dust 
must always be considered dangerous by 



1 14 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



Value of 
Beautiful 
Buildings 



Is There 
Too Much 
Teaching? 



sanitarians, not alone as a vehicle carrying 
infection, but as an irritant to the mucous 
membrane. In just a few words, to be clean 
is, in a measure, to be free from the dangers 
of infectious disease. 

Before we leave the subject of the school- 
building, let me say something about its 
architecture as well as its utility. The mag- 
nificent and beautiful modern school-build- 
ings were not in the dream of Whittier 
when he penned his description of the little 
deserted country-school. The more modern 
are beautiful. With the child's mind open 
to impressions, what possibilities lie in such 
buildings to awaken in that mind artistic 
taste. We can not have too many such 
buildings ; the architects of schools are doing 
their best, and so they help architects of the 
mind in their work. The justifiable pride 
which the child takes in a fine building could 
be made of more use in fostering a feeling 
of civic pride, a thing much needed in our 
cities to-day. 

The charge is not infrequently made that 
children are taught too much ; that too many 
subjects are forced upon them ; that, by this 
process, they receive a smattering of a lot 
of things, but do not learn any one thing 



EDUCATION AT SCHOOL II5 

well. To some extent this may be true, but 
it is made necessary by the scheme of gen- 
eral education under which we are living. 
And this is just the opportunity for the 
parent. You know, or ought to know, the 
natural talents and tendencies of your child, 
and you know them as no other person can. 
With this knowledge, you are in a position 
to cooperate with the school instruction and 
recognize and strengthen your own child's 
weaker faculties. 

It is not possible to determine iust what Need of 

Variety 

particular knowledge will be most needed 
by a particular child in its after life, and so 
a very large variety of material must be 
brought to it. And this has its advantages, 
for most intelligent children demand va- 
riety ; they delight in change. Because they 
are pleased by it is no good and sufficient 
reason why they should receive it; but, on 
the other hand, they are actually benefited 
by the introduction of variety into their men- 
tal work ; their attention is not concentrated 
too long upon one subject, and, as a result, 
they do not tire so readily and they learn 
better. Children dislike specialism and are 
more apt to cooperate when there is suffi- 
cient variety. They may be made auto- 



Il6 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



Mental 
Overstrain 



Dangers of 
Overlooking 
Mental 
Overstrain 



matically to repeat facts for an extended 
period, but they are incapable of thinking, 
or reasoning, about such facts for long 
periods. 

The attempt to compel the child to co- 
operate by concentration of its thought or 
giving attention for an extended time, will 
result in brain exhaustion. In a considera- 
tion of the effect of mental overstrain, as 
the result of the pressure of education, we 
can not disregard the influence exerted by 
the emotions. The fear of failure to suc- 
ceed may in one child be the cause of mental 
exhaustion, and this, quite apart from the 
amount of mental work which the child has 
accomplished. In some children (just as 
truly as in their elders), ambition may lead 
to the development of exhausting emotions, 
such as jealousy, unkindly feeling toward a 
competitor, and kindred emotions. Boys 
are not so apt to suffer in this regard as 
girls, because they generally create an out- 
let for such feelings by the exercise of their 
pugilistic tendencies after school hours. 

The danger of overlooking the existence 
of mental overstrain in the child is always 
present, because the child has some difficulty 
"in describing his mental sensations with ac- 



EDUCATION AT SCHOOL \IJ 

curacy, and, even if he could, he is not as 
free or willing as the adult to do so. More 
often he will make a strenuous endeavor to 
concentrate his lagging attention. With the 
one exception of headache, the child will 
usually make no complaint of his symptoms. 
The adult confides to his friends the dread 
which he has of the morrow and its duties ; 
he tells of uncontrollable imaginations of 
error or wrong, of his irritability, which he 
always attributes to not feeling well, and a 
hundred and one complaints of which he is, 
to his view, the undeserving victim. 

But the child conceals these things ; he is 
irritable and fretful, but he makes no ex- 
cuses ; he may exhibit fits of passion or wil- 
fulness which are unnatural for him; he is 
brilliant for very short periods and in cer- 
tain studies, while he is dull and a laggard 
in others ; he is restless in sleep ; and in these 
particulars he shows without audible com- 
plaint that there is something wrong. 

It is the commonly accepted idea of edu- Physiological 

Fatigue 

cators and parents alike, that the younger Periods 
the child the greater the liability to fatigue 
and the more marked its effect upon the 
system. But it may come as a matter of 
surprize to some to learn that this is not 



1 18 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

strictly so. Between the ages of seven and 
nine years there is a very decided deficiency 
in the physical vigor of children. This de- 
ficiency is not confined entirely to the 
physical state, but is associated with a men- 
tal lack of vigor which is physiological. For 
many years the child during this period of 
life was considered lazy, and was accused of 
lack of attention and effort which was sup- 
posed to be wilful and deliberate. Now, as 
a matter of fact, the boy or girl at seven 
years gives evidences of fatigue more read- 
ily than the child at six. And at the age of 
eight, fatigue is much more easily induced 
than at either six or seven. At the ninth 
year, the child possesses a limit of fatigue, 
which is approximately the same as at the 
age of seven. From this point on there is 
a gradual but progressive increase in the ca- 
pacity for physical and mental work until 
the next period of fatigue, which occurs in 
girls about the thirteenth year, and in boys 
the fourteenth, 
second The second fatigue period lasts for several 

Fatigue Period ° r 

in Girls months, and during its continuance the girl 

is not capable of concentration of attention 
upon one subject for an extended time with- 
out injury. As nearly as can be determined, 



EDUCATION AT SCHOOL 1 19 

the limit of time spent upon one subject 
without evidence of fatigue is twenty min- 
utes. 

A year later in boys, or at the average age second 
of fourteen, the most rapid body growth has inB °y s 
begun, and the brain ceases to increase in 
weight, and, in fact, shows a decrease tem- 
porarily, while the several organs of the 
body are undergoing a physical revolution. 

During this period, twenty minutes is the 
maximum limit of successful concentration 
upon one subject. Between the ages of four- 
teen in girls and fifteen in boys, and until 
the eighteenth year in each, there is a grad- 
ual increase in physical and mental vigor, so 
that concentration may safely be prolonged 
to thirty minutes. 

This leads me to consider brieflv, altho Limits to 

J Concentration 

its importance might warrant a more ex- of the Mind 
tended discussion, the average length of time 
during which the normal child is capable of 
mental concentration without injury to its 
health. Such a consideration of the averages 
would not detract from the necessity of in- 
dividualizing each case when circumstances 
demand it. 

Between the ages of five and seven, it is 
usually possible for the child successfully to 



120 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

concentrate its attention upon one subject 
for fifteen minutes. At first there may be 
some rebellion against doing so, but this is 
not brought about by incapacity, but by lack 
of desire. 

At the age of eight years, the limit of con- 
centration is reduced to twelve minutes. At 
nine, it is again possible to increase it to fif- 
teen minutes. During the following year 
there is a rather rapid increase in capacity, 
so that by the tenth year, twenty minutes is 
a safe limit. 

Between ten and thirteen, twenty-five 
minutes is the average. When the average 
girl reaches the age of thirteen, the most 
rapid growth of her body ceases and she 
has also, at that time, reached her maximum 
brain weight, and the second fatigue period 
is present. 
Results of Now, with this in mind, what is the result 

Disregard for ... » ,. i r i 

Limits of of over-aDPhcation ; of a disregard for these 

Concentration r r ~ 

physiological fatigue periods in the life of 
the child ? Every minute spent in concentra- 
tion after the child is incapable of properly 
cooperating is worse than wasted. From an 
educational standpoint, any further attempt 
to instruct can not be adapted to the child's 
state of mind; he can not cooperate; such 



EDUCATION AT SCHOOL 121 

attempts at teaching lose definiteness and 
repetition is worse than useless. And so 
most, if not all, the laws of teaching are vio- 
lated in regard to that particular child. And 
from the standpoint of the health of the in- 
dividual, an attempt of this character is 
harmful. 

While it is true that over-application must Conditions 

A x Favoring 

be detrimental to the health of any child, Fatigue 
there are many conditions in the child's life 
which greatly reduce its capacity for mental 
concentration and which render the child 
much more susceptible to fatigue. Without 
enumerating all of these, it is only necessary 
to make this broad statement; that, what- 
ever retards, reduces or interferes with the 
child's normal development, in turn inter- 
feres with and reduces its capacity for at- 
tention. 

But there is one element so common that importance 

of Nutrition 

to pass it over would be an error; this ele- 
ment is nutrition. The period of childhood 
places a demand upon the body which is pro- 
portionately greater than at any other time 
of life. The child is subjected to more ex- 
citement, more work and more physical and 
mental strain, than in later life. The de- 
veloping organism and the activities of the 



122 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

child's life require that nutrition be the best. 
In the adult, food is largely a matter of 
making up for waste, but in the child there 
are two important factors; the repair of 
waste and supplying material for unimpaired 
growth. 

Nutrition is of prime importance. I can 
hardly emphasize ioo much the high place 
which it occupies in the education of the 
child. Neither do I hesitate to make what 
may at first seem like a sweeping statement 
— that there is nothing that affects the educa- 
tion and health of the child in a larger de- 
gree. 

^JSJet* 1 "* The d ' et °f tne c *"ld must De as nutritious 

and varied as possible, and regularity should 
be the key-note of all that has to do with the 
taking of food. The requirements of edu- 
cation upon the body demand that the child 
have an abundance of fruits and vegetables, 
carbohydrates and fats. It is particularly 
during the earlier years of school-life that 
the nutrition is apt to suffer. The child is 
then under a new kind of excitement; there 
is the worry over lessons, the desire to hurry 
off to school, and meals become to the child 
a secondary consideration. And too often 
to the child is left the selection of its diet. 



EDUCATION AT SCHOOL 1 23 

More Than 

mands made upon the child, but nutrition |^ king of 
does not end with partaking of food ; it takes 
within its scope the assimilation of food, the 
distribution of bodily heat, the avoidance of 
fatigue, the regulation of rest and the kind 
and amount of recreation. And unless the 
parent who holds the power of control of 
these matters will exercise that power, the 
teacher of the child will be seriously handi- 
capped in the work of instruction. And 
further than this, if such a child is given the 
mental training which the parent will prob- 
ably demand, in circumstances of poor nu- 
trition, the child will be certain to suffer, 
and an impairment of health will result. 

There are special demands that the ne- ™e Demand 
cessities of modern school-life make upon 0rgans 
certain organs of the body. For example, 
the eye and ear must accustom themselves 
to new conditions, and the close application 
of either organ may put upon it a strain for 
which it is not ready, and if this is done, 
damage will result. The organ not being 
able to do its part, becomes the cause of re- 
flex disturbances in remote parts of the body 
and the health of the child suffers. 

There was at one time a common saving in 



124 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



p?o d er f regard to sleep, that a man required six 

siTep nt ° f hours, a woman seven, and a fool eight ; and 
I am suspicious that the one who made this 
statement slept eight hours and was of the 
male persuasion. We must admit that there 
are individual characteristics and peculiari- 
ties in regard to the amount of sleep needed, 
even in the healthy. These can not very well 
be disregarded. But from a study of the 
needs of a large number of school-children 
in the city, it is evident that, between the 
ages of six and thirteen, from eight to ten 
hours should be spent in sleep. It is a well- 
recognized fact that true insomnia (that is, 
insomnia for which there is apparently no 
sleeplessness cause at all) is very rare in children. But 
sleeplessness, which can be readily ascribed 
to a very definite cause, is common. Irreg- 
ularity in habits, partaking of food that is 
not suitable, insufficient bed-covering, poor 
ventilation of the bedroom, and conditions 
of like character, will be sufficient to cause 
disturbed rest, or actual sleeplessness, and 
the habit once formed tends to continuance. 
Modern education imposes upon children 
who are industrious but slow an increasing 
mental strain, and such children require 
much time for sleep. But the matter of 



EDUCATION AT SCHOOL I25 

sleep can be overdone as well as underdone. 
"Early to bed'' is always a good principle, 
and applies to all children. "Early to rise" 
is also a good principle for most children, 
but not for all. The child who is drowsy 
and languid in the morning, who begins his 
day lacking freshness and spirit, should be 
allowed to sleep longer in the morning, un- 
til it has been determined what the definite 
cause may be. And irrespective of the bane- 
ful effect of loss of sleep upon the health of 
the child, a pupil suffering from such loss 
can not be sent to its instructor except with 
the assurance that its best mental work can 
not be accomplished. 

To get the benefits of education a child Necessity of 

_ _ Correct 

must receive correct impressions, and if impressions 
there exists a lack in vision he can not do 
his best work until that is corrected. It fre- Defective 
quently happens that faulty vision is not de- 
tected until the child attends school, for at 
home there has been no close application of 
vision, or a slight error has gone unnoticed. 
But school-life puts the organ to the test, 
and it may then for the first time be found 
defective. Just here comes in the opportunity 
of the interested and observing parent. By 
watching the child under varying conditions, 



126 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



Ocular 
Overstrain 



Necessity of 
Restriction 



it is easy to detect that more strain is being 
placed upon the organ than it can comfort- 
ably accommodate. It is not uncommon to 
find a child, who for a short time and under 
favorable conditions has had what is ap- 
parently normal vision, but who, when 
placed before the test-card, will not show 
the fault is vision. And yet, when put to 
close work, such a child will indicate in no 
uncertain manner that the eye is being over- 
strained. 

Now, the reflex symptoms which will ac- 
company ocular strain will differ with the 
temperament of the particular child, but it 
is not necessary to go into details in regard 
to these, as they are only symptoms. The 
mental status of a child with defective vision 
is below that of his companion of equal abil- 
ity and with normal vision. And if, in ad- 
dition, he shows signs of a reflex disturb- 
ance, he is sure to exhibit a mental condi- 
tion which is subnormal. 

Until the defects of vision and hearing 
are corrected, the child should be restricted 
in its work, or be excluded from attendance 
upon school. This is necessary, not only to 
prevent further damage being done to the 
child's health, but for the reason that, if 






EDUCATION AT SCHOOL 127 

several such children are associated in a 
class, they will detract from the possible 
progress which children with normal vision 
and hearing could make. A child so affected 
is essentially backward; he views things in 
a wrong light; he tires easily and can not 
give proper attention. All this leads to dis- 
couragement, and a discouraged child is not 
for the time amenable to instruction. 

These matters are important, because it is 
not alone the present welfare of the child 
that is concerned, but its whole future. 
Moral obliquity is frequently due to physical 
deformity; physical abnormality is com- 
monly the secret of mental under-develop- 
ment. No matter what may be your own TheValue 
ideas in regard to the school which your boy of Enthusiasra 
or girl is attending, or what you may think 
of its courses of study, or of its corps of in- 
structors, never express your views before 
the child, unless they are favorable to the 
school, the curriculum and the teachers. 

Children are very apt to be pessimistic 
about these things, and need no incentive to 
make that pessimism deeper. Speak well of 
things, if you speak at all, and by your own 
personal interest arouse the child's enthu- 
siasm. If a child becomes deeply interested 



128 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

in a subject, it will largely educate itself 
along that line. And if the child become in- 
terested in the personality of the teacher, it 
will result in better and more efficient work. 
Downhf But if the ch^d "breaks down" under the 

school stress of school life, who is at fault? It is 

an easy matter to lay the blame at the door 
of public educators, but is it just? They are 
the servants of the public and are anxious 
to do those things which are best for all con- 
cerned. If there be a constant demand for 
any particular line of action, they must rec- 
ognize it and accede to it. A "break down" 
in the child comes, not from the work that 
is done while in school, but from the study 
that is done at home. Some parents are as- 
tonished at the amount of work that is ex- 
pected to be done at home, and while criti- 
cizing a system that will demand so much, 
they watch the child go on with the work 
and droop under its exactions. Now, the 
parent must realize that schools are public 
institutions and their character and the 
course of study will be determined by the 
attitude which the public takes toward them. 
No child should be expected to fit itself into 
a system, but the system must be regulated 
to the needs of the child. 



EDUCATION AT SCHOOL 120, 

If you are assured that home work is de- Dealing 

. With 

structive to the health of your child, it should Threatened 

J "Break-downs' 

be prohibited. The proper manner to ap- 
proach this is, not through the child, but 
through the principal or head of the school 
which the child attends. Action must not 
be taken until the matter has been fairly and 
squarely thought out. Then it must be de- 
termined just what constitutes study and 
what overstudy in your child. The case 
should be plainly but emphatically stated at 
the school, and the stand taken that only a 
certain amount of home work, or none at 
all, will be allowed. There may be objec- 
tion to this at the school, but in nearly every 
instance there will be cooperation in the mat- 
ter. It must be realized that the child's 
health is of greater importance than its rapid 
education. 

There is strength in numbers, and if a 
parent with an overworked child will con- 
sider the matter impartially, with one or 
more other parents in similar circumstances, 
and all act in unison, results will be imme- 
diate. 

There are frequent instances where a child Precocity 
is remarkably precocious, and as there are 
many degrees of precocity, we find many 



I30 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

very young children in advance of their play- 
mates intellectually. This lead may be limit- 
ed to one particular line, or it may involve 
several. There is a popular notion that, if a 
child shows such a tendency, it is unnatural, 
and, therefore, is likely to result in early 
death. There is nothing to warrant us in 
coming to such a conclusion, for such chil- 
dren live just as long and as happily as any 
others. The possession of such a talent is 
not injurious to a child, and usually does 
not lead to overstrain, unless the parents 
in their pride force the child. Then, with 
the forcing comes mental overstrain, which 
may result in ill health, but no more so than 
it would in another child. 
Long-iived, There are manv, many instances of men 

Tho Precocious J J 

who have belonged to this type of pre- 
cocious" children, and who have lived long. 
Kant lived until he was 80 and enjoyed 
splendid health. Locke reached 72, altho he 
was never very robust. Berkeley died very 
suddenly from heart disease, but he was 69. 
Lord Bacon lived to see 65 birthday anni- 
versaries. Lord Macaulay lived until he was 
close to 60, altho he was able at three years 
of age to read incessantly, and at seven be- 
gan to write a very comprehensive history. 



EDUCATION AT SCHOOL I3I 

Descartes was a well-known and much- 
sought-after philosopher at the tender age 
of 8, but lived until he was 53, and then it 
was consumption that took him off. Wil- 
liam Cullen Bryant, a delicate, mentally pre- 
cocious child, died at 84. 

And so we might go on through a long 
list of men who in childhood showed 
more or less remarkable intellectual pre- 
cocity, and still lived to greatly benefit man- 
kind and enjoyed health for many years. 



XI 



RELATIONS OF THE PARENT TO THE 
CHILD 



T 



HE real test of the capabilities of a 
parent is not what the child of that 
parent may know, or what he may be able 
to do, but what he really is. In other words, 
the main duty and privilege of a parent is 
to mold the character of the child. 

To be at all successful along this line, the 
parent must know the individual with whom 
he is dealing; the parent must know the 
child. It is not enough to know how to ap- 
ply the principles of child government or 
to secure the child's cooperation in all things, 
or even to know just what knowledge should 
be brought to the child ; you must know your 
boy or girl. 
individuality Even in the same family no two children 

of Children J 

are alike. Every individual life is different 
from another, because the laws of heredity 
are so complex ; because of these differences 
there are specific requirements for each in- 
dividual. But if parents will make a careful 
132 






RELATIONS OF PARENT TO CHILD 1 33 

examination of their own peculiarities, and 
apply the knowledge thus gained, they will 
understand the dominant traits of their chil- 
dren better. 

I am going to assume that parents are so 
much interested in the welfare of the child 
that all possible light will be secured upon 
the subject as to how the child should be 
nurtured and controlled. My purpose in this 
particular chapter will be to teach the parent 
how to apply his knowledge to the needs of 
the child. 

What is a child? It is very essential that V %?J? 

a Child? 

we know this, but a purely logical definition 
is not required for our purpose. Some prac- 
tical knowledge on the subject, however, is 
quite necessary if one is to deal intelligently 
and successfully with the child. And we 
must correct one mistake which is very 
common — the mistake of thinking that the 
child is only an adult in miniature. If we 
make a careful comparison of some of the 
features of the child's and the adult's 
physical make-up. it will convince us at once 
that there are very marked differences. 

Recognizing these many differences, there 
are two chief methods by which we may be 
able to study the child. 



134 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

Methods of First, we mav make a careful analysis of 

Studying ' J 

children a u ma j- h e d oeS) an d f his outward ap- 
pearance. This may be done while the child 
is conscious of being watched, and also while 
he knows nothing about the observations. 
Then it is possible so to modify his sur- 
roundings that we shall understand the 
child better. In a word, we may undertake 
to experiment with the child and study the 
results. While this is a method which has 
some few advantages, it is not nearly ac- 
curate enough to meet the demands. When 
we study the child thus, watching him at 
his play, at his work, and at his rest, we are 
consciously, or unconsciously, judging his 
every act, and even analyzing his motives 
by our own experiences. We assume, for 
instance, that when he follows a certain line 
of action he does so from the same sort of 
motives which would influence us under 
somewhat similar circumstances. Such an 
assumption is only true in part. 

introspection Second, we may use a method of intro- 
spection ; that is, we may begin by carefully 
examining ourselves, and from such an ex- 
amination may judge that similar expe- 
riences will be found in the child. There is 
an ever-present danger in this method, for, 



RELATIONS OF PARENT TO CHILD 1 35 

when we look into our own lives and discern 
our innermost nature, we discern the inner- 
most nature of the adult. It is not right or 
safe to assume that ours is similar to the 
innermost nature of the child. 

Still, there are so many possibilities in 
this method that we can not afford to give 
it up entirely, and, therefore, it becomes 
necessary to throw safeguards around any 
possible error. How shall we accomplish 
this? We were at one time children and 
had the child's experiences. 

As we can not judge of the child from Q^ ling 
our present experiences, we must rely upon Experiences 
our past ones. We should, by this particular 
process of introspection, carry ourselves 
back to childhood days. How did we think 
and feel and act as children? But, no mat- 
ter how honest we may be with ourselves, 
or how earnestly we may take up the matter, 
there will still remain the fact that the 
present, in a measure, influences even our 
memory of the past. 

Sometimes we honestly think we did and 
thought certain tilings in childhood, but 
thoughtful consideration shows to us they 
were the products of later vears. It is -V ds t0 

Memory 

necessary, therefore, to quicken the memory 



I36 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

by every means that is within reach. Old 
pictures may help us in this matter; the old 
stories which we used to love to hear will 
help to recall emotions once aroused by 
them, provided we read them again. Or 
we may visit the places that were the play- 
ground of our youth. All of these will be 
valuable aids to memory. And when the 
matter of renewing the memory of the past 
is undertaken seriously, it is surprizing how 
rapidly and clearly apparently forgotten 
things and incidents will become clear and 
vivid. 

We have practically all experienced this. 
Perhaps an old and almost forgotten chum 
comes into our life after a lapse of many 
years; we talk over old times and the days 
when we were children. One by one in- 
cidents crowd back into vivid recollection 
and it seems as tho it was only recently that 
they happened. We know, even at this later 
day, how we felt at those times ; what the 
motives were that determined our actions ; 
how we loved, hated and strove. 

Now, a similar experience may be ours, 
if we set our minds earnestly and patiently 
to the task and select a time in which we 
may have an undisturbed and quiet revery, 



RELATIONS OF PARENT TO CHILD I37 

and become again the companion of our 
earlier days. We can live again in memory 
close to the experiences of our child-life. 
And thus we may teach ourselves to under- vk^Jrnt 5 
stand more clearly the child's innermost na- 
ture. It is only by placing ourselves as 
nearly as possible at the child's viewpoint 
that we may hope to accomplish much with 
children. That viewpoint may be the wrong 
one (but, nevertheless, it is the child's), but 
when we take it we shall then be able to 
bring the results of riper experiences in adult 
life to bear in setting things right. 

This is one great error that parents make 
in dealings with children; they do not, in a 
sufficient measure, appreciate what may be 
passing through the child's mind at a given 
time. As a matter of common experience, 
the person who is the most successful guide 
for a child is the one who most successfully 
puts himself in the child's place. With 
some parents this seems to be a natural gift, 
while in most of us it must come through 
training and an earnest desire to do the best 
for the child. No matter how capable and 
kindly the parent may be, if there is practise 
in this process of getting the child's point 
of view, it will make him more capable of 



I38 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



Curiosity 



dealing with the child and securing the 
child's cooperation in all things. This 
brings us to a consideration of some of the 
more prominent characteristics of the child, 
which must be more or less constantly in the 
minds of those who have children in charge. 

Restlessness is a very constant charac- 
teristic of childhood, and is sometimes 
treated as tho it were a fault; but it is a 
normal and valuable characteristic of early 
life, for it is Nature's way of preventing 
one-sided development. It makes the child 
incapable of long attention or concentration 
upon one subject, and thereby creates a de- 
mand for a variety of subjects. In place 
of the general complaint against it which is 
commonly made, an effort should be made to 
guide this characteristic and not subdue it. 
There is a type of restlessness, or rather of 
unease, which may be dependent upon a 
nervous fault, but this is nothing like the 
normal, healthful restlessness which we dis- 
cern in all children. 

Curiosity is also a strong characteristic in 
childhood. It is perfectly natural that the 
child should want to know things. There is 
no question that this characteristic becomes 
somewhat trying to the patience of an adult 



RELATIONS OF PARENT TO CHILD 1 39 

at times, but we must remember that the 
child is seeking knowledge, and that is a 
healthy sign. Curiosity is a tremendous 
propelling force in the mental life of any 
child, and, while the mere asking of ques- 
tions may become a habit with some, there 
must be an intelligent response to the child's 
inquiries if they are to have in them the 
^possibility of instruction. 

It may not be wise always to answer ques- 
tions directly or fully, for the object should 
be to stimulate the child's thought ; to teach 
him to think for himself. So, under certain 
conditions, it will be well to answer by ask- 
ing another question, which will stimulate 
thought. 

Credulity is a prominent characteristic credulity 
with things about which the child knows 
nothing, and caution is necessary at this 
point, for when partial knowledge of a sub- 
ject is obtained by the child, credulity will 
not be so marked. In its stead a critical at- 
titude may be assumed. Often this may 
amount to verbal criticism, as "You told me 
thus and so," and then the child seems to be 
charging the parent with inconsistency. This 
is best met by the revelation of a higher law 
of which the child has been ignorant until 



I4O CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

this time. This characteristic adds a de- 
cided charm to child-life, and it is through 
its influence that we are able to bring an 
abundance of material for mental growth. 

imitation Imitation is particularly strong in chil- 

dren. By this characteristic, more than any 
other, they learn readily. We must recog- 
nize the importance of this because a child 
will imitate the wrong as readily as the 
right. More often than most parents are 
willing to admit, we see reflected in the 
child's actions the traits and characteristics 
of the parent. To the boy, the father is the 
ideal ; to the girl, the mother; and so in mat- 
ters of dress, speech and carriage, as well 
as in the larger things, the child imitates the 
parents, and its associates and character are 
influenced by such imitation. 

imagination Imagination is very pronounced and usu- 

ally uncontrolled. This lack of control is so 
marked in many instances that clear con- 
ception of a truth may be interfered with. 
This characteristic often shows itself in a 
marked way in the imaginative stories which 
are told by children who are not deliberately 
lying. In a very young child — that is, one 
under five or six years of age — it is almost 
impossible to state positively that a child has 






RELATIONS OF PARENT TO CHILD I4I 

lied. We may be certain that the truth has 
not been stated, but imagination may be so 
active and so uncontrolled that the child is 
not deliberately lying. Later in the life of 
children — that is, about the tenth, eleventh 
or twelfth year — this same characteristic will 
be further awakened by a strong dramatic 
instinct, which seeks expression through 
"making believe," and stories are often told 
at that time which have little of the possible 
in them. There should be early guidance 
and control of this characteristic, so that it 
may become useful in later life. It needs 
no stimulation, but it does require an outlet 
and sane guidance. 

That there is a distinct value in a rightly Control of 

J the Imagina- 

controlled imagination there can be no tion 
doubt. In imagination the artist sees the 
finished product in a rough stone, the blank 
canvas or the instrument of music. In like 
manner the child may see in imagination its 
finished life outlined in the future. Many 
have had their imaginations stunted or 
wrongly guided in early life, and so they 
have been compelled to live along from day 
to day with nothing comprehensive in their 
lives. The imaginings of the child are 
healthy and normal ; let it have its dreams of 



142 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



Need of Indi- 
vidualizing 



Influence of 
Association 



what it shall be and what it shall do; but 
influence him along right channels. Teach 
him self-control in this as in all things. No 
one can hope to succeed who goes gayly 
forth here and there with the thought that 
"some day I will do something worth 
while." Imagination forms a large part of 
enthusiasm, and enthusiasm is a tremendous 
factor in the accomplishment of results. 

While these are far from being all the 
characteristics common to children, they are 
the ones with which the parent will be most 
concerned. But it must be recalled that there 
are marked individual differences, and the 
parent is always dealing with an individual. 
Therefore, there arises the necessity of treat- 
ing with individual peculiarities. Sometimes 
it is helpful to place different types of chil- 
dren in large general classes, so that we may 
get a clearer conception of their needs. But 
the simpler the division the more valuable it 
will be. 

All individuals do not fall readily into 
one class or another, no matter how cau- 
tious we may be in placing them, and there 
are certain precautions which we must con- 
sider in making any such division. Then 
there is the added fact that children act 



RELATIONS OF PARENT TO CHILD 1 43 

quite differently in the mass than they do 
as individuals. There is a determining force 
in numbers which we are not always able to 
analyze, but which is so active that we can 
not fail to recognize it. It controls indi- 
vidual action for the time. In the family 
life the parent will not have this particular 
feature of the problem to deal with, on ac- 
count of the small number of individuals in 
each family. But, irrespective of this, a 
child will act differently as an individual 
with different persons. With his teacher, 
for instance, the boy is a different acting 
person than with his father, or mother, and 
this is so marked in some instances that we 
might safely say that no individual can be 
judged as an individual, but only as he 
acts in relation to others. In a word, it 
takes the relationship between two persons 
to give us even a fair clue to the nature or 
possibilities of either. 

And as the combinations of individuals 
change we may often detect apparent 
changes in the nature of the same individual. 
For example, while with one playmate a 
boy may be a bully and aggressive, the same 
boy with another companion may be sub- 
missive. It is necessary that we, as parents, 



144 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

study these differences in our boy or girl 
and make note of the changed attitude with 
changed relationship. 

Now, with these few precautionary re- 
marks, as a preliminary to making a di- 
vision, we might safely state that there are 
four large general divisions of children. In 
normal children they may be divided into 
two classes — "motor" and "sensory." The 
nervous child may be divided also into two 
divisions — the "restrained emotional" and 
the "unrestrained emotional" types. 
"M°j or " Motor children have as their chief charac- 

Children 

teristics a marked tendency to arrive quick- 
ly, almost impulsively, at conclusions. With 
this there is quickness of temper and in 
learning. But, with this quickness, there 
is lack of depth, so that the anger which 
may have been rapidly aroused is soon dis- 
pelled, and the things quickly learned are 
soon forgotten. Such a child lacks per- 
sistency ; the thing must be accomplished at 
once, or there is unrest which amounts to 
rebellion, and the task is given up about as 
quickly as it was undertaken. These chil- 
dren act largely by impulse, and the action 
is immediate when a conclusion has been 
arrived at. Such children are usually at- 



RELATIONS OF PARENT TO CHILD I45 

tractive to people on account of what is 
wrongly termed their "brightness." 

Sensory children are much slower in all chfid S ren y ' 
their activities. They do not make up their 
minds quickly, rather waiting until they. 
can see the thing from a number of stand- 
points, and even then coming to a decision 
with hesitancy. This indecision leads them 
to be annoyed by trifles and may make them 
inclined to fretfulness. They are less for- 
giving than motor children, and what they 
learn is longer retained. Their persistency 
is very marked, as compared with the motor 
child; therefore, they get credit for more 
patience. Such a child is apt to be less 
favored by parent and associates, and par- 
ticularly by its teachers, because of its ap- 
parent slowness of thought. But this slow- 
ness is only apparent and not real, and the 
possibilities of such a child of doing most 
excellent work are large. With similar 
chances for learning and the exercise of 
patience with such a child, he is more likely 
to make substantial advances than his more 
attractive but less stable brother. 



XII 
GOVERNMENT OF THE CHILD 

THERE are certain duties which all 
parents owe to their offspring. Many 
of these are so self-evident that the State 
takes recognition of them in the framing of 
its laws. Laws are enacted which compel 
the cooperation of parents in safeguarding 
the health of the child. For example, it is 
quite universally insisted upon that a child 
must be vaccinated before it can attend 
school, and while in attendance upon school 
it must observe certain regulations which 
tend to limit infection and contagion and 
act as a protection to itself and to others. 

Further than this, in the matter of edu- 
cation itself, there are laws which compel 
the parent to send the child to school until 
a certain age or state of proficiency has been 
reached, and regulations are such that there 
is a definitely prescribed course of study. In 
all this, the State recognizes that the duty 
of the parent to the child is intermingled 
with the duty of the State to its future 
citizens. 
146 



GOVERNMENT OF THE CHILD 1 47 

But, however comprehensive the law of 
the State may become, it can not release the 
parent of the child from responsibility. The 
duty of the parent to the child is manifold, 
but may be summed up as follows : 

First, there is the duty to support the 
child and provide amply for its physical 
needs until the time arrives when the child 
is capable of supplying these unaided by the 
parent. 

Second, there is the duty of the parent 
in guiding the child by the higher reason of 
the father or mother, until the child's rea- 
soning powers have been sufficiently de- 
veloped and trained. 

Parents are usually zealous in their pro- Preponder- 
1- 1 1 -i i> 1-1 • • ance oi Men * 

vision for the child s physical necessities, tai and Moral 

1 J Over Physi- 

and this is as it should be. Judgment is de- cal Needs 
veloped much more slowly in the child than 
is mere physical strength, and therefore the 
child is less capable of mental and moral 
self-reliance than of physical self-support. 
The duty, then, is clear; the time spent in 
securing for the child the requisite degree of 
mental and moral development must exceed 
that spent in his mere physical development 
and care. This proper and adequate care is 
a matter of education to parents, and more 



I48 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



The Former 
Attitude 
Toward the 
Child 



The Present 
Attitude 
Toward the 
Child 



than that, it is the highest type of education, 
for it demands self-devotion, which must be 
constant in character and of very high type, 
an attention to detail which is exacting, and 
a varied application of broad general prin- 
ciples to individual needs. 

Within the memory of most of us, was 
the time when the attitude of the parent 
toward the child was ably exprest in the oft- 
repeated "children must be seen and not 
heard." The child was made to feel that he 
was a necessary evil. By this attitude of 
the parent he came to regard himself and 
other children as troublesome; he was ex- 
cluded from the real social life of the family 
until he had attained a considerable age, and 
his personal affairs were always considered 
unimportant. Not infrequently he was 
made to feel that his very existence de- 
manded an excuse. The result of this mis- 
understanding was that, in families which 
were poor, he was early forced to work be- 
yond his capacity and, when more favored 
by riches, he was passed over to the care of 
a more or less disinterested nursemaid. 

But fortunately, with a better insight into 
the child-life, this has gradually been 
changed, so that at the present day the child 



GOVERNMENT OF THE CHILD I49 

is entering more and more into the home 
life and feels its lasting influences. We 
realize now that the child normally has 
hopes, fears, ambitions, misgivings, aspira- 
tions and other emotions which are akin to 
similar emotions in his elders, the only dif- 
ference being that they are untrained and 
find a different mode of expression and 
create more lasting impressions. 

It is a distinct advantage that the child's 7 he c , hil > s 

<-> immaturity 

sense of proportion is deficient; that his aBIessing 
ignorance of the world leads him to make 
a more or less literal interpretation of 
things; that his powers of reasoning and 
judgment are not early developed. These 
very lacks place the child's development 
more completely in the parent's hands; he 
comes to them dependent and with a charac- 
ter unformed and capable of development. 
The possibilities are for evil as well as for 
the good, so that the alternatives most often 
lie with the parent and not with the child. 
Therefore, there must be instituted early 
some form of child-government. 

Parental authority is the basis of all JgggJ 
child-government. It may assume quite 
gentle methods in its administration, but 
whatever the measures used the authority 



150 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

must be complete. Gentleness may often be 
an aid to child-government, but it must 
never become a substitute for parental au- 
thority. 

Parental authority must be absolute. 
There should be settled in the mind of the 
parent a deep conviction that to command 
obedience is a duty which the parent owes 
to himself, to the child, and to society. The 
more completely acts of obedience in the 
child rest upon simple submission to the 
authority of the parent, the easier will child- 
government be for all concerned. 
fining To be most effective, such training should 

Necessary ^ instituted very early in the child's career; 
the earlier that it is established the easier 
it will be for both parent and child. Many 
parents do not have any such ideal of ob- 
ligation to their offspring, and deliberately 
choose to defer to the child's reasoning. 
But, as has been stated, the power of rea- 
soning is of somewhat late development, and 
correct reasoning is always based upon a 
long period of training and experience. 

Therefore, one must be very cautious in 
making appeals to the reasoning powers of 
the child, because of this very lack of train- 
ing and development. There is a time and 



GOVERNMENT OF THE CHILD I5I 

a place for appeals to reason, but not as an 
inducement to obey a command, or when 
the act of obedience is still pending. The 
obedience of the child to the authority of 
the parent must be secured first and com- 
pletely; after that, it may be advisable in 
some instances to make an appeal to the 
child's reasoning powers. 

It is necessary, also, that the parent fully obedience 
realize that obedience is a matter of training Training 
and development. The young child has no 
natural instinct of obedience. Like all young 
animals, the child will exhibit evidences of 
a semblance to obedience, but this is only 
due to the natural instincts which the child 
shares with young animals; instincts of 
fear of physical harm, of hunger and so 
forth. But, search as we will, we can find 
no distinct and definite instinct of simple 
submission to the will of the parent — that 
must be developed by training. 

Let us take a common illustration, which 
may make this clearer. Every dog will fol- 
low its own master and recognize him among 
all others. The dog does this through ani- 
mal instinct. If he should fail to do this, 
we would rightly suspect at once that there 
was something wrong with the animal ; that 



Ij2 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

he was not acting as a dog should. Now, 
no matter how intelligent the dog may be, 
or how devoted he may be to his master, he 
will not rush into the water and bring back 
to the master a thrown stick through the 
same instinct which makes him follow his 
owner. The instinct which actuates a dog 
in following its master for protection and 
shelter will not make the animal serve the 
man. To be of service he must be trained. 
If an intelligent dog, after long associa- 
tion with his master, is not capable of doing 
some one or more of the feats which are 
so common to this class of animals, we 
blame the master because of his neglect in 
teaching the animal. The dog, alone and 
unaided, is incapable of doing these com- 
mon tricks; he must be taught, and that 
teaching requires patience and perseverance. 
In a like manner the child must be taught 
obedience, for it is not a matter of self- 
development, but of patient training, 
obedient Now, properly and effectually to teach 

obedience to children, there must be made 
clear to the child the proposition that it 
never gains by an act of disobedience; there 
must be the understanding that it suffers 
loss, inconvenience or pain by such an act. 



GOVERNMENT OF THE CHILD 1 53 

I would draw particular attention to the 
words "never" and "always," for they make 
more positive and clear the underlying prin- 
ciples. 

And right here let me add a warning : P»?sf. r °* 

° Indistinct 

most parents are not sufficiently careful in Commands 
making regulations and commands so dis- 
tinct that there is no chance for misunder- 
standing. When there is to be a prompt 
response to a command, it must be given in 
such manner that the child will fully appre- 
ciate its meaning. A word does not always 
have the same meaning for a child that it 
does for a parent, and this is frequently the 
cause of misunderstanding, the reason why 
the child fails to obey. 

When we make use of the word "author- institutes 
ity," we do not mean anything allied to Authorit y 
harshness. In fact, in the exercise of au- 
thority over children, much more progress 
can be made through the agency of gentle 
measures. Gentleness is much more effi- 
cient in its results, because, by its proper ex- 
ercise, it fosters and does not detract from 
the natural affection which all children have 
at some time for all parents. The repeated 
application of harsh methods, in securing 
obedience, is as harmful as it is unnecessary. 



54 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



Danger of 
Gentleness 



Appeals to 
Reason 



and is sure to bring about in the child a feel- 
ing of rebellion. 

On the other hand, gentle measures may 
easily be carried to an extreme. When they 
are, it is usually because the parent wishes 
the child to have a deep love for the parent 
and through fear of stifling that love fears 
to insist upon obedience. 

Any healthy and normally developed child 
soon shows more or less contempt for one 
whom it can absolutely rule. This attitude 
is brought about largely through the fact 
that the child does not realize its place in 
the world ; gratitude does not appear prom- 
inently in early life, but is a virtue of rather 
late development. The young child is in- 
capable of appreciating all the sacrifice that 
the parents are constantly making for its 
welfare; any appeal along this line to secure 
obedience is doomed to prompt failure. The 
parent who allows acts of disobedience to 
pass unnoticed because of fear of lessening 
the child's affection, is doing the very thing 
which will most surely bring about the re- 
sult they most fear. 

There is some good in the arguments of 
those who claim that a child may be gov- 
erned by an appeal to its reason, but a great 



GOVERNMENT OF THE CHILD 1 55 

deal depends upon the age of the child and 
the application of the method. It is, on the 
whole, not a perfectly safe procedure. The 
reasoning powers of a child are of rather 
late development and, during the period of 
development, require the same diligent care 
and guidance as any other important faculty. 
While it is a difficult matter to place all chil- 
dren in divisions or classes, the statement 
may be made that, so far as the government 
of the child is concerned, an appeal to its 
reason is almost useless under the age of six 
years, because, before that age, its powers 
have not been properly aroused. 

And, again, the power correctlv to reason The Power 

& r , J m to Reason 

is a matter of long and patient training, and 
while this training is going on, the child is 
incapable of proper self-control; therefore, 
the authority of the parent must be com- 
plete. Sooner or later there must be an ap- 
peal to the child's reason, and every child 
must be taught to decide for itself, so that 
it will be able to make a right choice without 
the constant intervention of the parent. But 
there is a preliminary training which must 
precede this, and that training involves com- 
pulsory obedience. Compulsory obedience 
is often hard for the child, as it docs not un- 



I5O CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

derstand the necessity for it, but it prepares 
him for later life when he will willingly sub- 
mit to law because it is for his good and the 
good of others. 

And so the son or the daughter, who has 
been early taught to respect the commands 
of the parent simply on the basis of parental 
authority, later appreciates the value of such 
instruction and willingly submits to, and 
even anticipates, the wishes of parents. 
|e"f ding 0nes Every child must find itself. This comes 
largely through the power of reasoning, and 
preliminary to that, the child must secure 
the necessary "poise" which comes from an 
intimate acquaintance with law. If this 
quality is markedly lacking, then we have 
what might be called "an insanity of the 
will." This is well illustrated in the case 
of the spoiled child. These unfortunate 
children have never been properly brought 
under the influence of authority, and even if 
they have reached the age at which we could 
normally begin to reason with a child, they 
are not amenable to such instruction, be- 
cause they have not learned the primary 
principle of obedience irrespective of the 
reasons for it. The spoiled child is always 
the product of bad training. 



GOVERNMENT OF THE CHILD I 57 

A word of caution in regard to the appli- Reasoning 

Never a Sub- 
stitute for 
Authority 



cation of this method: reasoning must never ^ itu h te for 



be made a substitute for parental authority. 
Neither should there be any attempt to rea- 
son with the child while the act of obedience 
is unfinished. After complete obedience has 
been secured, then and only then may it be 
of considerable value to give the facts to the 
child (if it is of suitable age), taking up 
briefly both sides of the question, and by 
taking the lead in the matter, bringing the 
child to the right viewpoint. 

And to make such an appeal effective, the 
child's mind must be concentrated on the 
immediate subject in hand. There must be 
no wandering of the thoughts into other 
channels, no matter how closely allied they 
may seem to be to the primary question. 
This concentration of the child's thought is 
an important, but oft-neglected, element in 
character-building. 

Some parents unfortunately believe they The use of 
are justified in governing their children by 
means of artifice or trickery. This is be- 
cause they have never fully realized that it 
is necessary to all child-government to es- 
tablish confidence between the child and the 
parent. To secure this confidence, three 



I58 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

things are essential — gentleness, firmness, 
and absolute truthfulness. There can be no 
question that, for a time at least, a child 
may be beguiled into a semblance of obe- 
dience by artifice, but the moment the child 
discovers that the statements of the parent 
are lacking in truth, that very moment the 
confidence of the child is shaken. 

It may be that the parent wishes to go 
out and leave the little one at home, but it 
rebels. To avoid what is called "a scene," 
trickery is used. The child may perhaps be 
told that the parent is going to the dentist, 
and that if the child went, the dentist would 
pull all his teeth out. Or the statement may 
be made that the parent is only going into 
the next room, and while some one else 
takes part in the deception by attracting the 
attention of the child, the parent stealthily 
leaves the house. The child soon learns that 
it was tricked, and the result is harmful. In 
this sort of government, there can be no 
permanency; the act of obedience does not 
enter into it at all as a factor; the child is 
merely tricked. The effect of such a pro- 
cedure is bound to show itself in time, and 
usually quickly. 

The result upon the child is that it be- 



GOVERNMENT OF THE CHILD 1 59 

comes distrustful of all that the parent says Results of 

* J Artifice upon 

and does. No matter how truthful the^ f h ^ c ^ ld 
parent may be in all other things, the child's 
confidence, once shaken, is hard to reestab- 
lish, and it remains distrustful of, all that is 
said. With immature powers of reasoning, 
the child soon attributes wrong motives to 
every act of that parent. Thus, a very costly 
price is paid for the small temporary gain of 
avoiding a possible scene. To bring this 
about, it is not necessary for the parent to 
tell a flagrant untruth, but the same disaster 
may follow such looseness of speech or 
action as will lead the child to mistrust. The 
untruth may be to the parent of no imme- 
diate importance, but the child, lacking the 
proper sense of proportion, does not appre- 
ciate that. The child is naturally imagina- 
tive, and when its suspicions are once 
aroused by the parent's trickery, it becomes 
more and more suspicious through the work- 
ings of that imagination. The actions of the 
parent are an example to the child, and so 
it soon learns the possibilities of deceit, and 
for that learning it can hold the parent re- 
sponsible. 

Some children are so constituted that, 
when once their confidence in the parent is 



l6o CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



Buying 
Obedience 



Dangers of 

Buying 

Obedience 



shaken, it is rarely, if ever, placed upon a 
firm basis again. Be zealous, therefore, 
parents, lest you knowingly or unthinkingly 
shatter that confidence. 

Obedience should never be bought. In 
the effect upon a child there is a considerable 
difference between a possible reward for 
well-doing and buying obedience. Many 
parents do not give this matter much 
thought, and are therefore very apt to de- 
velop traits which are undesirable in their 
children. Just as soon as you begin to ap- 
peal to a child through its appetites and 
neglect to appeal to it through its intellect 
and moral sentiments, you begin to lower 
its ideals. 

It is inevitable that a continued appeal to 
a baser motive will help to strengthen and 
develop it. If these are developed and the 
higher motives are neglected, it will not be 
long before the baser ones will predominate 
over the higher ones, and they will become 
the prominent feature in that individual's 
character. 

Buying obedience is a habit into which it 
is easy for parents to fall, because it does 
not seem at first as tho it could be harmful. 
But it is not uncommon to find children who 



GOVERNMENT OF THE CHILD l6l 

are so perverted that they will not do any- 
thing without questions as to what they are 
going to get for it. Even in the most com- 
mon acts of obedience, they look for the 
price. And as this habit grows in the child, 
the commercial spirit is so well developed 
that the child becomes more and more ex- 
acting in the nature of its demands and the 
value of its price. Is it any wonder that 
such a child becomes ungovernable and in- 
nately selfish when it has been subjected to 



p 



XIII 

PUNISHMENT 

^UNISHMENT may be regarded from 
two standpoints. First, as a penalty 
demanded by the principles of justice; and, 
secondly, as a measure which will deter the 
individual directly affected by the infliction 
of the punishment from a repetition of the 
offense which brought it about, or through 
him as an example, acting in a like manner 
upon others, 
objects of In regard to the child, punishment must 

Punishment ° 1 

always have as its aim the second point of 
view ; it must act as a deterrent to the child 
or to other children. If this is always kept 
in mind, the methods of punishment would 
be different from those usually carried out, 
and with such modification they would prove 
more effective. There are three degrees of 
violence commonly used in the punishment 
of children, and all need a thoughtful con- 
sideration. These are bodily punishment, 
.frightening, and reprimands. 
162 



PUNISHMENT 163 

We will first consider bodily punishment. feSLment 
This degree of violence should be reserved 
for the most extenuating circumstances. It 
is rarely a method which is at all beneficial 
in its ultimate results, and in most instances 
defeats the very object aimed at in its in- 
fliction. In every instance it adds more or 
less nervous shock to the punished child. If 
the child is one who is already under some 
nervous strain, or is naturally of a nervous 
temperament, its infliction invites disaster. 
It is not infrequently the case that an ap- o^S® 38 ' 8 
parent moral fault has as its foundation Faults 
some physical deformity, or abnormality, 
and no amount of physical punishment will 
correct it. In such instances, the correction 
of the physical fault is all that is necessary 
when coupled with proper training. 

There is one consequence of bodily pun- Dangers of 
ishment which is extremely dangerous; it Punishment 
excites and brings into play the very baneful 
feelings of great fear, of anger, and of bitter 
resentment against the one who inflicts it. 

No parent can well afford to overlook or 
disregard this influence, for it affects the 
child's character to a marked degree. Irre- 
spective of this, however, there is the ele- 
ment of danger which comes from the in- 



Punishment 



164 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

fiiction of bodily punishment while the 
Bo'diiy ° e ° f parent is in an angry mood. The child quite 
naturally thinks that this sort of punishment 
is an injustice, that it is out of all propor- 
tion to the offense, and is an outlet for the 
anger of the parent. Often he is right. He 
knows that, when angry and unrestrained, 
he feels relieved if he is allowed to kick 
over a chair, or violently throw about a toy, 
and he can only be filled with the idea that 
the parent inflicts punishment of this kind 
as an outlet for temper, the only difference 
being that the child becomes the object in 
place of the chair or toy. 

When one is angry, he is rarely discreet, 
and, therefore, such punishment may be 
inflicted as will result in permanent physical 
harm to the child. Instances are rare, in- 
deed, where corporal punishment can take 
the place of other methods. There is no 
denying the fact that, in a very few rare 
instances, its infliction seems to have brought 
about salutary results. But it must always 
be reserved for these rare occasions and the 
infliction of it must only come after most 
serious consideration by the parents. 
Neither should corporal punishment be un- 
dertaken while the child is angry, for at 



PUNISHMENT 165 

such a time its effect can not be beneficial. 
If the child has been taught obedience early, 
the infliction of this punishment will never 
be necessary. Its chief use seems to be for 
the early eradication of habits which the 
child has acquired from being spoiled. 

Slapping and striking a child about the ^pp^s. 
head is to be particularly condemned, be- 
cause it is so senseless and merely an ex- 
pression of anger at the moment. There 
is, perhaps, no one who would promise a 
child such punishment for a later period in 
the day and then carry it out, with any 
thought that it would be of benefit ; second 
thought immediately condemns it. 

Every other means of control should be 
used before resorting to corporal punish- 
ment, and then, when the decision has been 
made to inflict it, it should be resorted to 
as an extreme measure and as privately as 
possible. The impression should always be 
left in the mind of the punished one that if 
he tries (even tho he may not always suc- 
ceed) to do right, the punishment will never 
again be inflicted. Begin by attempts to influ- ["J, 1 ,*" '" 8 
ence the higher attributes in the child's na- Motlves 
tare, a descent to the lower (the purely 
physical) should only come as a last resort. 



1 66 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

It may justly be doubted if corporal pun- 
ishment is ever really remedial. Naturally, 
we are apt to recall our own experiences ; we 
may have been often whipt and we may 
doubt if it ever did us any harm. The real 
question is, whether it really did us any 
good? We may not realize, even in our 
adult days, the incalculable harm which was 
done by such treatment. At least, let us give 
our children the credit of being more sensi- 
tive and of finer feelings than we were, and 
then spare them the degradation of the in- 
fliction of corporal punishment, either as un- 
dertaken by ourselves or another. 

Even at its very best, this type of punish- 
ment does no more than exact obedience 
through fear of physical pain, and as there 
is no high motive aroused, it does nothing 
to ennoble the child's character; but it may 
do much harm through the excitation of 
baser emotions and the loss of self-respect. 
Frightening In some households there are those who 
have more or less care and supervision of 
children, and yet who are unable to punish 
them in any other manner than by frighten- 
ing, and, therefore, they select this as their 
favorite method of attempting to control 
the child. Nursemaids are particularly apt 



PUNISHMENT \6j 

to make use of this method. It merits our 
most severe condemnation, for its effect 
upon the child can not be anything but 
harmful. Even tho it secures the imme- 
diate object in view, it does so at the ex- 
pense of the child's nervous system. 

In former times it was considered quite Breaking 

1 the Will 

essential that a child should show fear to- 
ward its elders. If the child lacked this 
quality, it was usually considered the duty 
of the parent to thrash him into what was 
called a "spirit of proper reverence"; or, in 
other words, there was an attempt made to 
"break his will." Happily, those times are 
past, and as we understand the child better, 
we do not attempt to break its will. The 
process, no matter how carried out, is al- 
ways a cruel and unnecessary one, and if a 
parent is confronted by a will which is 
strong enough to suggest the thought of its 
breaking, it shows a fault in the earlier man- 
agement of that child. 

We are fully aware that children, and es- child 
pecially little children, are by nature fear- Fwreome 
some. But fear of physical pain, or of an 
apparent danger, does not mean that the 
child is a coward. All children differ in this 
regard, and what will arouse great dread in 



1 68 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

one child will have little effect upon another. 
From a knowledge of the immediate and 
remote effects of frightening a child, I am 
assured that a large part of the self -con- 
sciousness, the introspection, the nerve ex- 
haustion and hysteria of later childhood 
and adult life, had their beginnings in the 
repeated awakenings of fear in the young 
child. 
How to The proper way to meet the fears of 

Meet Child- . . . 

hood Fears childhood is, not in any way to use them 
as a means of correction; the constant at- 
titude should be one of sympathy and ex- 
planation, and the cause of its fears should 
be removed whenever possible. A child 
who has no fears of any kind is nearly an 
idiot; the parent who enlarges upon those 
which the child naturally has is nearly as 
hopeless. Young children particularly are 
often injured by stories which have in them 
the elements which excite great fear. The 
natural freedom and courage of many chil- 
dren has been destroyed by the terrors 
caused by such stories of the "charcoal 
man," the "bugaboo," and the "policeman." 
asSule'of Some children live in almost constant 
lifffedng dread of imaginary persons and things 
which may do them harm; the fright of the 



PUNISHMENT 169 

daytime often becomes the dread of the 
night, and the child is restless and uneasy in 
its sleep, or suffers from night terrors (see 
page 66). "The black man will take you"; 
'The doctor will cut your tongue off" ; "The 
policeman will take you"; "That dog will 
bite you, if you are not quiet"; these and 
countless other thoughtless, but nevertheless 
brutal, threatenings are responsible for a 
large proportion of the nervous shock of 
childhood, and cause an enormous amount 
of immediate and remote suffering in the 
child. 

There are many times when a sharp, short Reprimands 
reprimand will immediately command the 
attention of the child and result in prompt 
obedience. To be effective, however, its 
repetition must not be frequent. Only in 
the most trying circumstances should the 
reprimand be used toward the older child 
while there are others present, particularly 
strangers and other children. The main rea- 
son why the reprimands of many parents 
are ineffectual is that they have become too 
frequent, or have degenerated into the per- 



One of the most certain wavs to make a Nagging and 

J Scolding 

child careless, wilful or indifferent to what 



I70 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

is said to it is continually to nag at it. This 
habit, which many otherwise cautious par- 
ents fall into (of frequently scolding), de- 
stroys the finer sensibilities of the child and 
brings into play motives which should not 
be aroused. Quickly added to this is an 
indifference displayed to all commands. 
When any normal child is continually found 
fault with, he will sooner or later respond 
to such treatment by assuming that he does 
not know how to do the right, and, there- 
fore, there is little use in his trying. Let him 
once become strongly imprest with the idea 
that he is always doing the wrong, and he 
loses a large part of his self-respect, and 
in such a state of mind is not amenable to 
proper control. 

He becomes discouraged, and a discour- 
aged child is incapacitated to a large extent 
for mental or moral guidance. Scolding 
(which is in no way allied to a proper repri- 
mand) has no place in child-government. 
Threatening Parents should be very cautious in the use 
of threats. If they are used at all, they 
should be undertaken in a very guarded way. 
It is much safer to say, "If you do that I 
shall be compelled to punish you," rather 
than make a definite promise of what that 



PUNISHMENT I7I 

punishment will be. Time and time again 
threats are made of future punishment, and 
when the time comes to carry them out, 
parents dare not do so, because they realize 
that, in their haste and anger, they threat- 
ened to do what they dare not. 

It is a common experience to overhear 
mothers threaten to throw their own chil- 
dren out of a car-window, to give them 
away to the rag-man, to break their necks, 
to "beat the life out of them," and to do 
various other impossible and improbable 
things. They never have any serious 
thought of doing any one of these acts. 
They have fallen into the error of giving 
way to their baser feelings, and this is 
coupled with looseness of speech, which is 
largely the result of habit. 

It is interesting to watch the child ofj^*™ 
such a parent. He listens to threats with 
every indication that he knows they will 
not be executed, but also with evidences of 
irritation at having been threatened. A 
child soon learns whether one is sincere or 
not. If he realizes that the parent is insin- 
cere, he becomes at first indifferent, and 
finally loses that feeling of respect for the 
parent which every parent should covet. 



172 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

A law unenforced soon becomes a dead 
letter; we as citizens lose respect for such a 
law and quickly forget it. Threats which 
are not backed up by carrying out their pro- 
visions suffer the same treatment with the 
child. Temporary obedience may be se- 
cured in some instances by a threat, but it 
is only temporary, and the effect upon the 
character of the child is not of the best. 
Threatening I must speak also of another form of 
Punishment threatening, which can not be condemned 
too severely — that is, the habit of threaten- 
ing future punishment. It may be a father 
who says, "Wait until I get home to-night, 
and then," etc., or a mother who says, "Oh, 
when I get you in the house" (then follows 
the threat). Whether or not there is 
actually an intention to carry out the pre- 
scribed punishment, the effect upon the child 
is the same. It lives in dread of what may 
take place; many of its hours are made un- 
happy with the thought and its natural free- 
dom is checked by dread. Besides this, the 
sensitive nervous system of the child suffers 
serious shock. There is no need in such 
methods, and they are cruel. They do the 
child an injury and never benefit it. If pun- 
ishment needs to be carried out, it should 



PUNISHMENT 1 73 

not be threatened. The time to concentrate 
the child's thought is the time when the pun- 
ishment is administered and never before. 

One of the most pernicious habits is that Threatening 
of one parent threatening the child with g^ s e ment 
punishment from the other. To the child's 0ther 
mind such a threat is a confession of weak- 
ness, and so the confidence in that parent is 
weakened, while fear of future punishment 
does the harm which has been previously 
mentioned. 

There ought to be some settled policy of Parents 

° r J Acting as a 

government in every family ; parents should Unit 
act as a unit. Never should one parent 
criticize the acts of the other before the 
child. Even if one is at fault, the time to 
draw attention to that fact is while the 
child is absent. If the father, in his hasty 
anger, reprimands the child too severely, it 
should go uncommented upon by the mother 
until such time as the matter can be talked 
over by both parents. Criticism of one 
parent by another before the child tends to 
detract from the respect which the child 
should have for that parent. 



XIV 

GENTLE METHODS IN GOVERNMENT 

TO apply gentle methods effectively, 
there must be some definite plan which 
will be followed as closely as circumstances 
at the time will permit. As there is an ab- 
sence of anything harsh or unkind in the 
application of such methods, it is necessary 
to appeal to the child's better nature; to 
awaken its conscience. Before this can be 
effective, the child must be instructed in 
what is right and what is wrong; otherwise 
he will make no intelligent choice. Natu- 
rally, most of the methods here suggested are 
for children who have received this instruc- 
tion. Such teaching can be made efficient 
by having the child know that any thought 
or act which injures the child or another per- 
son is wrong, and that every thought or act 
that is of help to it or to others is right. 
That is the main proposition, but to make 
it effective it must be placed before the 
child in a definite manner. 
174 



GENTLE METHODS IN GOVERNMENT 1 75 

For instance, tell the child that it is wrong 
to be idle, to be unhappy, to be indifferent or 
disobedient; and, on the other hand, that it 
is right to be busy, to be happy and to make 
others so, to pay attention to parent and 
teacher and to be obedient. This must not 
be done all at once, but only as particular 
occasions allow the subjects to be introduced. 
At such times the child will be prepared for 
definite instruction, and it will be more last- 
ing in effect. In this way we draw attention 
to specific things, and that is what the child 
needs. Not until the child has been so in- 
structed is it capable of making a positive 
selection between right and wrong. 

It is always better to lay emphasis on what ^aching 
is right, rather than upon what is wrong. Virt " cs 
Positive virtues are the better. Teach the 
child that it has within itself the ability to 
do what is right. Emphasize this until the 
child becomes fully conscious of it. This 
will strengthen the child's will to do right 
and encourage it in the upbuilding of char- 
acter. 

I believe that there is a very decided ad- y si ",s "We" 

J in Place 

vantage in using the word "we," rather than of ' You " 
the word "you" in teaching children the 
differences between right and wrong. If the 



1/6 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

statement is made, "You must be good," 
"You must be happy," it is less effective than 
if we said, "We must be good," "We must 
be happy." The plural at once secures the 
child's cooperation, because it leads him to 
the thought that right conduct is the duty 
of all, and not that of children alone. If a 
child is to be successfully influenced by the 
application of gentle methods in govern- 
ment, the right time must be chosen to ap- 
ply them. This time is when the child's 
mind is in a receptive mood, when thoughts 
are not distracted by other things, and when 
it is possible to arouse the affections. 
Evening Thus, the best time is when the child is 

Conference 

"good." In the necessary rush of modern 
life, the best time usually comes with the eve- 
ning hour, the few minutes preceding sleep. 
The wife who should approach her hus- 
band asking cooperation and favors when he 
is tired and cross would probably fare ill. 
Then why attempt to deal with a more sen- 
sitive being, the child, when its spirit is one 
of rebellion or it is tired and cross? For 
mothers who take personal delight in seeing 
their little ones tucked safely into bed, the 
hour of bedtime offers a wonderful oppor- 
tunity for character molding. 



GENTLE METHODS IN GOVERNMENT 1 77 

When the day is over, work put away and 
the hour for rest has come, what better time 
can there be than this for a conference be- 
tween parent and child? This is the hour 
when the child should be led to speak freely 
of its troubles and mistakes, and should be 
able to tell them into a sympathetic ear. 
This is not the time for harsh words, sharp 
criticism or rebuke, for if the child realizes 
that it will be treated in this manner when it 
confesses a fault, it will learn to withhold 
that confession, and even be led to deceive. 
Always be ready to forgive a con f est er- 
ror, and then, having forgiven it, do not 
refer to it again. 

The aim of the parent at this time should 
be to correct and strengthen the highest 
ideals, so that right may predominate in the 
future. To accomplish that it is not neces- 
sary to inflict punishment for past errors. 

It is usually best to introduce the subject introducing 

J J the Subject 

for correction in a roundabout way, begin- 
ning, perhaps, with a story which in its main 
features parallels the thing which needs cor- 
rection. Fictitious names may be used and 
the child is then led into expressing an 
opinion as to the various acts of these fic- 
titious persons. Even while the story is 



178 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

being told, it may see an analogy between 
it and his own acts. Then, when the child 
has made his decision, clinch it quickly with 
just as few words as possible and make a 
short appeal to the child's better nature. Do 
The word no t sermonize. Then follow with the word 

of Cheer 

of encouragement, "I know that you are 
going to try to do better after this ; you can 
be good and you are going to, I know." 
Then comes the word of good cheer and 
caresses; the child is left happy, contented 
and more amenable to moral guidance. 

Such a course has an immediate salutary 
effect upon the child. There is no shock to 
the nervous system ; cooperation is secured ; 
the best side of the child's nature is awa- 
kened. One such lesson must not be ex- 
pected to suffice to reform a child. One of 
the laws of teaching is repetition, and it re- 
quires considerable patience and many such 
conferences before the best effects will be 
noticed. 
Morning When time will permit, it is advisable to 

have a few minutes alone with the child in 
the morning for affirmation. The same at- 
titude should then be shown as at the evening 
conference, but affirmation now takes the 
place of confession. The parent must take 



Conference 



GENTLE METHODS IN GOVERNMENT 1 79 

the lead, always using such statements as, 
"Now, to-day, we are going to be kind and 
happy," or, "We are going to do better than 
yesterday," always making the virtues posi- 
tive and not negative. This plan fixes in 
the child's mind the importance of a specific 
duty, and secures his cooperation. It is also 
a preparation for the evening conference, 
which is of a different nature and has a dif- 
ferent purpose. 

These two methods, used in the proper 
spirit and with the degree of patience re- 
quisite, are the most valued factors in the 
government of children and the upbuilding 
of their characters. Every parent should 
covet opportunities for the molding of the 
characters of children. 



XV 

THE MORAL FAILINGS OF NERVOUS 
CHILDREN 

THE more we study the child the more 
firmly convinced we become of the 
fact that moral defects are frequently de- 
pendent upon some physical fault. With- 
out repeating, let us refer again to the chap- 
ters on "Education" (see page ioo), where 
it was shown that physical defects are com- 
monly the cause of inability properly to edu- 
cate the child. But this is more certainly 
true in the moral training. Such individuals 
should be dealt with patiently until the true 
cause of the moral defect is discovered. It 
is a common experience to find that, after a 
protracted or serious illness, a child, who 
previously was good-natured and obedient, 
becomes self-willed and peevish during con- 
valescence. 

We must always allow for the factors of 
age, environment, heredity and the child 
himself in our dealings with these defects. 

180 



MORAL FAILINGS OF NERVOUS CHILDREN l8l 

When the age of five years has been reached, Consideration 

° ■* for Others 

if the child has been properly guided, he will 
show considerable consideration for others, 
and this will not come in response to com- 
mand, but will be the free-will act of the 
child. 

At seven, he should know clearly the dif-^J^ nd 
ference between right and wrong. We do 
not mean by this that he can then decide 
finer questions of duty and morals, but he 
will be able to discern what is right from 
what is not. And having that power, he is 
accountable for his acts, if normally de- 
veloped. If there is a failure at this age to 
discern these clearly, the child should re- 
ceive the benefit of a thorough physical ex- 
amination to discover the fault. 

Because a child tells an untruth he is not L y in « 
of necessity a liar. An apparent untruth 
may be told because the child is timid under 
examination, and losing control of himself, 
says what he does not mean. Adults com- 
monly do this in courts; to the child, ques- 
tioning is often as much dreaded as the wit- 
ness-chair is to an adult. Other children 
tell untruths because they are absent-minded. 
It is common for them to do so, because they 
do not fully understand the question put to 



1 82 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

them. These facts seem simple enough, and 
yet, if they are not recognized, the child may 
be falsely accused of lying, and his nervous 
system will suffer thereby further shock. 
Romance- Romance-weaving is not uncommon 

Weaving ° 

among children who are blest with vivid 
imaginations. The difficulty is that the child 
has not been taught to make distinctions be- 
tween the truths of allegory and those of 
fact. The imagination is valuable, but needs 
early guidance, so that it will not be the 
master but the servant of the child. 

The desire to appear prominently before 
others (a dramatic instinct) is often the 
cause of romance- weaving. The best way 
to treat this latter is to receive the statements 
of the child without comment and without 
apparent interest. When he finds that he has 
not an appreciative audience, he will be 
cured of this habit. In a few instances, the 
fault indicates some impending illness, or 
it may be due to lack of control, which is 
marked in nervous children after an acute 
illness. Parents should show considerable 
patience toward children who are apparent 
liars, and every effort should be made to de- 
termine whether there is a physical basis for 
the moral fault. 



MORAL FAILINGS OF NERVOUS CHILDREN 183 

Stealing is not as common as untruthful- stealing 
ness, and usually takes the mild form of the 
pilfering of jellies or sweets. Thus, fre- 
quently we find the physical basis right 
there in the demand of the system for more 
sugar. Some children will take from others 
what they consider trifles, merely from a 
desire to possess, and would not think of ap- 
propriating anything of great value. Such 
a child does not consider this a form of 
theft, and if rudely awakened to the fact 
that it is, will suffer marked nervous shock. 
In a hysterical desire to ingratiate them- 
selves with parents or teachers, some chil- 
dren will steal money and other valuables, 
but always with a desire to give it to others 
and reserve none for themselves. 

Now, in dealing with any of these forms Dealing 
of theft, the child must not be accused of Thefts 
being a thief; neither must his act be called 
theft. It must be clearly shown to him 
that the act is not right ; that he has no right 
to anything which belongs to another, and 
then the promise may be exacted that he 
will respect these rights in the future. The 
child should not be imprest with the full 
gravity of the offense, because he will then 
be in dread of the punishment which he 



184 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

sees meted out to ordinary thieves. But the 
parent must not overlook even apparently 
harmless pilfering of sweets. A contin- 
uance of such habits may lead to the taking 
of valuables, and it must be checked as 
soon as possible. 

cruelty Q ne f me mos t trying faults to combat 

in nervous children is cruelty. Fortunately, 
it is not a common one. The difficulties of 
its early eradication are made possible by 
the many examples that the child sees of 
what is apparently deliberate cruelty carried 
on by adults. He can not see why it is not 
wrong to trap and kill mice, to kill fowl, to 
use worms as bait or to catch flies. He jus- 
tifies his own acts by those of others. This 
is what makes the problem a particularly 
hard one to solve, and it requires the most 
patient handling to set the child right. Sin- 
gle acts of cruelty in the child need not be 
a cause for alarm, but persistency in such 
acts, or their occurrence in later childhood, 
should attract attention to both moral and 
physical needs. 

insolence Insolence is a common fault. Correc- 

tion of this fault is usually easy, since 
its causes are few and easy of remedy. 
Most often the child is insolent to the parents 



MORAL FAILINGS OF NERVOUS CHILDREN 1 85 

and to others because it has been allowed 
the liberty of being impertinent to play- 
mates or servants. The child should be 
early taught that it must address servants 
as well as others with courtesy, and the 
"thank you" and "please" should be insisted 
upon as a regular part of the conversation. 
The second cause comes through mimicry. 
The child observes a loose use of language 
among adults and free criticism of one 
another, with neglect of little courtesies be- 
cause of intimate association. With strong 
desire to imitate, the child becomes imper- 
tinent and finally insolent. When these two 
chief causes are kept in mind, correction of 
this fault is simplified. 

When the child has arrived at the period £ its ? £ 

r Passion 

when it should normally exercise self-con- 
trol, if it suffers from fits of passion or 
screaming, it should receive immediate med- 
ical attention. Of course, one can not ex- 
pect a child to control its emotions when it 
has not been taught to do so, or when an 
example of the lack of control is always be- 
fore it. It may at times be difficult to de- 
termine whether the passion is due to lack 
of training, or to lack of control from 
physical fault. But there are certain danger- 



l86 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

signs which indicate very clearly that it 
comes from a physical basis. These are par- 
tial insensibility to pain (as when the child 
knocks its head against the floor or wall, 
and apparently is unconscious of pain), a 
frenzy of passion and other passion excited 
by very slight causes. After the attacks are 
over, the normal child will be ashamed of 
itself, but not so with the other type of 
child ; the latter even goes so far sometimes 
as to deny the occurrence of the attack. 
Such a child requires skilled medical advice 
to prevent the probable occurrence of serious 
nervous disease. 
Lack of Lack of moral consciousness can only be 

Moral Con- 
sciousness determined as existing after a most ex- 
haustive study of all the facts relating to 
that particular child. It must be proven 
that the acts under consideration are per- 
sistent and unprovoked (or come from only 
the slightest provocation), and that the child 
can not be brought to a realizing sense of 
the nature and quality of his acts. Too 
much stress can not be placed upon the in- 
tellectual qualifications of the child, because 
there is not always a deficiency in this mat- 
ter. In fact, the most dangerous cases are 
those children who have the combination of 



MORAL FAILINGS OF NERVOUS CHILDREN 1 87 

an acute intellect with a blunted moral 
sense. In justice to the child, it is necessary 
that the examination be one extending over 
a considerable period, that it be most search- 
ing, and that it be carried out under skilled 
medical advice. 



A 



XVI 
THE CHILD'S LITERATURE 

S in everything else, the child should 
be allowed considerable freedom in 
its reading and in the selection of its books. 
While the parent must act as adviser and 
guide, there is some danger from too nar- 
row restrictions. 
ow^cSce ^he child should always be made to feel 
that it has a voice in the selection. When the 
child's reading is too much specialized by 
the parent, it has an unwholesome effect; 
the child will make much of its own reading 
and belittle that of others. The child's lit- 
erature must not be cramped within arbi- 
trary bounds. Some writers have claimed 
that the best way to educate a child is to 
turn him loose in a library of carefully se- 
lected books and leave the rest to individual 
choice. But such methods are not safe; 
taste for the proper kind of literature is de- 
cidedly a matter of training. If unin- 
structed. the child will gather literary tares 



THE CHILD'S LITERATURE 1 89 

as well as literary wheat. There is real 
need for the child to be taught the value of 
literature and of certain books, because, with 
an appreciation of their value, there will 
come desire for their use. 

The best way is to give the child free rein, Guiding 

, . the Choice 

and while things are going well, allow in- 
dividuality to assert itself, but there must 
be constant supervision to see that the read- 
ing is kept within proper bounds. The 
hardest problem with which the parent will 
have to deal is the gift-book. This volume 
comes unsolicited and as a token of regard, 
but its selection is more often due to its ap- 
pearance and its price, rather than its liter- 
ary worth. The only way to deal with this 
situation is early to instruct the child to 
make wise selections under your advice. 
Only in this way will the less desirable books 
remain unread, altho they may still be ap- 
preciated as gifts. 

In securing this, there are two sets of 
books which are above the average in help- 
fulness, because they represent the best in 
the literature that appeals to the average 
taste of the young child, and thus, with its 
interest aroused, future guiding is made an 
easier matter. These sets are "The Chil- 



I9O CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

dren's Hour" and the "Every Child Should 
Know" books. 

After the child has been started aright, 
there may be more freedom and less re- 
striction. A great help by way of sugges- 
tion to any parent will be "literary land- 
mark" books, which place clearly before you 
lists of the best books in the world, and ar- 
ranged in such manner that the parent can 
readily make a selection of such books as 
are suitable for reading at various ages. 

Then, even with these helps in hand, 
there should be an appreciation of these gen- 
eral principles ; the chosen volume must ap- 
peal to the child's own particular bent of 
mind; it must be a volume of real worth; 
and it must not be arbitrarily chosen with- 
Reading out consulting the child. Small reading 

clubs or circles are very desirable, if they 
are dominated by an older person who can 
suggest the various kinds of reading for the 
children. As a volume is purchased and 
read, it is passed along to other members in 
rotation, and finally returns to the owner. 
These reading circles should not be large 
(three to five children are the best numbers), 
and when a book has been read and favor- 
ably commented upon, encouragement 



THE CHILD S LITERATURE 191 

should be given to add it to the library. This 
association, with others, stimulates interest 
in literature to a marked degree, and allows 
an interchange of thought and comment 
which is a valuable asset in the child's liter- 
ary education. Such a circle keeps up an in- 
terest which might otherwise flag at times. 



XVII 

THE CHILD'S FRIENDS 

IF a child has been brought up- to under- 
stand that he has the full sympathy and 
cooperation of his parents in all that he does 
that is right, and that there is nothing that 
concerns his well-being or happiness which 
is too trivial for the parents, there will be 
little, if any, difficulty in the selection of his 
companions. But if, on the other hand, he 
is made to feel that his varying emotions are 
too insignificant to be regarded ; that, when 
he is at home he must be under restraint, and 
that his natural impulses are not dealt with 
kindly, he is sure to seek the companionship 
of his fellows-in-misery. In adult life the 
generalization holds true that those who 
have interests and aims in common will 
gather together. But this is more forcibly 
true during childhood; those of like dispo- 
sition and environment are those most apt 
to become chummy. 
Friends in The place for the friends of a child is oc- 

the Home , r 

casionally the home of that child. Parents 
192 



THE CHILD S FRIENDS I93 

must recognize that when children get to- 
gether (and particularly boys) there is apt 
to be some noise, and possible disorder for 
the time, but the best way to study the com- 
panions of the child is in this situation. If 
supervision (unconscious to the child) is had 
in the home while the child and its com- 
panions are enjoying their unrestrained play 
or games, and if companions have been ad- 
mitted into the home with a cordiality and 
frankness which show that they are not re- 
garded with suspicion or prejudice, a much 
better estimate can be obtained of their de- 
sirability as friends. As much as possible 
parents should show interest by taking a 
lead in such matters as the formation of 
clubs, games, and so forth. 

It is surprizing how enthusiastic most 

, . , . , . , Cooperation 

parents become in this matter when it has of Parents 
been brought to their attention and the at- 
tempt is made to follow it. Time and time 
again I have had my suggestion received 
with some doubt ings as to its feasibility, and 
it has been accepted somewhat as a duty. 
Not long after most of these parents be- 
come most keen in their planning and enter 
into the matter in a spirit which is refresh- 
ing to them and helpful to the child. 



194 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



Undesirable 
Friendships 



Terminating 
Friendships 



If it is decided that a certain companion 
is undesirable for association with the child, 
the effort to break up the friendship should 
be undertaken guardedly. It is unfair to 
the friend concerned to make your decision 
public talk, and, therefore, the matter should 
be adjusted without any display or comment 
to others, such as "I would not let my child 
play with that boy." Your reason for end- 
ing the friendship may be a good one, but it 
may not hold good for other instances. I 
am convinced that the effect of companion- 
ship upon the child is overestimated ; parents 
are usually eager to lay to the influence of 
some particular boy or girl faults in their 
own child which are often the direct result 
of improper supervision and training at 
home. Watchful care in the home and con- 
fidence between parent and child are the 
most certain safeguards against the influ- 
ences of companions out of the home. 

In terminating a friendship the coopera- 
tion of the child should be secured. No 
word of reproach should be uttered against 
the companion, however; it may be sug- 
gested to the child that, among his other 
friends, are those who are more desirable. 
Then, when the time of planning an outing 



THE CHILD'S FRIENDS I95 

or game at the home occurs, the parent ta- 
king the lead withholds the invitation from 
the undesired one. Thus, gradually the 
child is weaned away from that one. On 
the other hand, if the case is not handled 
carefully and the child is simply forbidden 
to have anything to do with a certain friend, 
he feels that the friend has been misjudged 
and resents it. The other fellow, knowing 
that he is antagonized, is apt to make it 
unpleasant in many ways. The whole mat- 
ter of the child's friendships may be solved 
by the attitude of the parents. If they are 
too busy or too careless to become the com- 
panions of their own children and enter 
into the spirit of their activities, they can 
not reasonably expect to influence those 
friendships. On the other hand, if the 
parent assumes the right attitude toward the 
child, he or she is the very best friend that 
the child has, and when this is realized by 
that child, the oft-quoted "Evil associations 
corrupt good manners" is robbed of most 
of its significance. 

There should be every effort made to have Mixed 

Companies 

children play in mixed companies until the 
age of twelve or thirteen years. Of course, 
in many games there is a distinct division 



I96 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

made between boys and girls, but in the 
general plan of companionship boys and 
girls should be encouraged to be together. 
Even at the later age, no encouragement 
should be given to plans which draw marked 
attention to the differences between the 
sexes. A great deal of harm comes to chil- 
dren (and particularly to sensitive, nervous 
ones) from thoughtless teasing by their 
elders in regard to their companionship with 
those of the opposite sex. If such a com- 
panionship becomes so marked that it will 
readily fall under the caption of "calf love," 
then it must be gently but firmly checked, 
and in the doing of it it is advisable to seek 
medical advice, for most of these children 
are abnormally emotional. 



XVIII 



THE CHILD'S AMUSEMENTS 



MUCH that has been said in the chap- 
ter on "The Child's Friends" will ap- 
ply to the child's amusements, and the reader 
is advised to read that chapter as a prelim- 
inary to this. The attitude of the parent 
toward the friends of the child is very im- 
portant, and is closely interwoven with the 
control and guidance of the child's amuse- 
ments. 

Children are educated and developed men- 
tally and morally by the things which are of 
greatest interest to them. Therefore, it is 
of prime importance that some of thew- 
amusements be considered, because they 
make up so large a part of their lives. 

And we consider first, the theater. Th e Theater 
Long before the time arrives when the 
average child can go into one of these in- 
stitutions, he is intensely interested in all 
that pertains to it. There is everything fa- 
vorable to this interest; companions relate 
their experiences in glowing terms and the 

197 



19© CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

constant change of bill-boards as newer at- 
tractions arrive tends to keep up the excite- 
ment and interest by variety. Now, here is 
a means by which the child may be educated ; 
the things learned may be debasing and tend 
to blunt the moral sense or they may help in 
the molding of character. This is a prob- 
lem which we can not at the present time 
deal with theoretically. We may talk about 
proper censorship and various other sug- 
gested remedies, but the facts remain the 
same; the children are interested intensely, 
and the dangers to morals are great. 

There are put upon the stage to-day plays 
which are good, clean and elevating; plays 
which, in the impress they leave upon the 
mind of the child, are beneficial. No mat- 
ter what the personal attitude of a parent 
may be in regard to the theater, there should 
at least be a careful consideration of the 
desirability of allowing the older child to 
witness one of the best plays occasionally. 

In fact, the question is, can we afford to 
neglect this phase of our present-day educa- 
tion? Our children are not only receiving 
their education in the home, in the public 
schools, which are under admirable control, 
and in the churches; the teachings of the 



THE CHILD S AMUSEMENTS 1 99 

theater can sometimes outweigh the in- 
fluence exerted by the church, and even the 
school, and the home may suffer in some 
instances by comparison. 

Of course, the problem is one that must 
finally be determined by each parent for the 
individual child, but it is a problem that re- 
quires much thoughtful consideration, and 
must be approached without preconceived 
notions and prejudices. 

The theater, no matter how elevating it 
may be, is no place for the younger child, 
or for one that is nervous and emotional. 
Both classes of children lack the necessary 
self-control, and the immaturity, or instabil- 
ity, of their nervous systems invite the ex- 
citation of emotion beyond what is desir- 
able. 

In their amusements, children like to imir Amusements 
tate, and a proper supervision must be ex- 
ercised over this tendency. On account of 
the moral element involved, the child should 
never be allowed to make an amusement out 
of sacred things. Imitation of a church serv- 
ice, a baptism, a wedding, or a funeral seem 
at first harmless in itself, but making an 
amusement of them blunts the sensibilities 
of the child. In regard to funerals, there 



Amusements 



200 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

can be no objection if the child wishes to 
hold one over a dead pet, because in that in- 
stance it is not undertaken as an amusement, 
but indicates the feeling of a real loss. 
Outdoor Outdoor amusements are naturally the 

best, because they allow activities under the 
most favoring circumstances. There is a 
spontaneity also in such play which is de- 
sirable. In outdoor play, there should be 
encouragement of active games ; the more 
passive ones may be reserved for the home. 
The child should be allowed those things 
which amuse, as well as act favorably upon 
his health (bicycle, velocipedes, skates, foot- 
balls and baseballs, etc.), as freely as the 
financial condition of the parent may allow, 
but with this restriction: if it is possible for 
the child to make an article for his amuse- 
ment, he should be encouraged to do so. The 
wagon or sled made by the boy is of much 
more value to him and is kept in better con- 
dition than the boughten one. His own at- 
tainments will stimulate others to do similar 
things. Not infrequently the child can be 
made to combine work with play, and many 
are the things which the child can make or 
repair and find amusement in the doing," if 
the parent encourages it. Parents will have 



THE CHILD S AMUSEMENTS 201 

to be very unselfish in the matter of amuse- 
ments for their children; if necessary, their 
tnvn must be restricted, or given up at times, 
for the sake of the child. 

It is impractical to take up specific amuse- 
ments further than has already been done, 
because generalizations will not always do. 
Take, for instance, dancing. There are so 
many sides to this question, and so many in- 
dividual peculiarities are to be considered as 
to whether it will be advisable for a partic- 
ular child or not, that we can not fully con- 
sider it. In all these matters, however, if 
the attitude of the parent is one of coopera- 
tion and sympathy with the child, and one 
of watchfulness over its mental, moral and 
physical good, the question of what amuse- 
ments to allow, and what to restrict, will be 
simplified. 



E 



XIX 

THE CHILD'S POSSESSIONS 

VERY child has a desire to own 
things; there are several reasons why 
this should be fostered. The three chief rea- 
sons are that it conduces to personal pride, 
personal cleanliness, and the upbuilding of 
character. Personal pride is inculcated 
more readily if the child knows that he has 
a personal possession of such things as 
clothes, books, games and so forth. In the 
feeling of ownership there is satisfaction 
present and an interest aroused which can 
not come in any other way. It is, of course, 
necessary that many things in the home be 
owned in common, but when this is the case 
it is easy to discern that the pride of pos- 
sessing is not marked toward those articles. 
What is every one's property is not apt to 
receive the same care as individual posses- 
sions. 
Guarding Naturally, with personal possession there 

Srffetoess is danger of selfishness, but this can be 
readily guarded against. It may require 



THE CHILD S POSSESSIONS 203 

some tact, and certainly requires real jus- 
tice on the part of the parent to combat self- 
ishness without being unjust. But children 
may be taught to share their things with one 
another amicably and yet feel that they re- 
tain their ownership. The child with whom 
the article is shared must also be taught that 
other children's property must receive ex- 
tra care, and this is a lesson which is much 
needed at the present time when there seems 
to be a growing tendency toward disregard 
of the property rights of others. We see 
this continually among adults, and we can 
not but think that it is in large part due to 
the lack of early training. If a boy's 
clothes are continually shared with others, 
and a girl's hair ribbons and trinkets are 
common property, we can not, with reason, 
expect either of them to show much personal 
pride. 
Personal cleanliness is promoted if the child p? 1 " 50 "* 1 

* Cleanliness 

has complete ownership in certain things Fostered by 

if o Possession 

and does not have to share them with others. 
I refer particularly now to such articles as 
tooth-brushes, hair-combs, brushes, hand- 
kerchiefs and the like. There are abundant 
sanitary grounds for personal possession of 
these and other things. Particularly when 



204 CAKE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

the child reaches the school age is this pre- 
caution necessary. Children in school are 
exposed to various contagions and infec- 
tions which are easily spread by the habit 
of allowing them to use toilet articles in 
common. It is useless to instruct a child in 
the necessity of bodily cleanliness, cleanli- 
ness of habit and of clothing, when at the 
same time we compel him to use these men- 
tioned things in common with others. It is 
an easy matter with individual possessions 
to detect the beginnings of a careless habit 
in any one of several children, for if Mary's 
comb is left filled with hairs the parent 
knows it at once. But if several persons use 
the brush detection is impossible. The same 
applies to the throwing about of face-cloths 
and towels. 
rcfuard' " The upbuilding of character is helped in 

cSssness no small degree by personal possession. 
Every child who has an ownership in any- 
thing should be early taught to take proper 
care of it. This leads to the upbuilding of 
character by eradicating a natural tendency 
to carelessness, which is inherent in most 
children. Inattention to this important ele- 
ment in the make-up of the child (order) 
will do much to destroy our teaching in 



THE CHILD'S POSSESSIONS 205 

other things. Carelessness in the child makes 
extra work for others as well as harms the 
child. If these things are to be insisted 
upon and children are to be taught the right 
use of possessions and the valuable lesson of 
order, the parent must make ample pro- 
vision for carrying out the scheme. If it is 
taught that there is a place for everything 
and everything must be in its place, the place 
also must be provided. 



XX 

THE QUESTION OF SEX 

SOONER or later to every parent will 
come the question, "How much infor- 
mation in regard to matters relating to sex 
should I give to my boy or girl?" Ques- 
tioning will become more and more insistent 
as the child grows older, so that the child 
who, by some direct inquiry or act brings 
the matter prominently to the attention of 
the watchful parent, will acquire what he is 
seeking, either from this source or he will 
obtain it elsewhere. 

Naturally, the manner of approach to the 
child will be largely determined by the re- 
lations which the child and parent have as- 
sumed in preceding years. If the child has 
been accustomed to conferences with the 
parent, and has always been dealt with 
patiently, and its confidences have been re- 
ceived in a sympathetic manner, there will 
be no difference when questions in regard 
to more delicate matters arise. 
206 



THE QUESTION OF SEX 2QJ 

But if accustomed to a prompt rebuff, or 
to inattention when bringing to the parent 
what to him was real and to his elders folly, 
and he has been turned away without sym- 
pathy, or with mere tolerance, nothing open 
and frank may be expected from that child. 
The fault is not with the child, but with the 
parent. 

It is our common experience that children l-^ ™" 
of both sexes may reach maturity without 
being fully aware of the processes of pro- 
creation. More often they have very much 
distorted ideas in regard to the matter. 
Now, the question arises, "Is it right for a 
parent to allow a child to grow up in 
ignorance or to become the victim of wrong 
impressions ?" Many of these children grow 
up in ignorance because of their limited 
powers of observation in this line and their 
inability to draw inferences. 

There is no doubt that much harm may Harm in 

Ignorance 

be wrought by ignorance of this kind, or 
by implanting wrong impressions, and that 
dangers are undergone and calamity invited 
because of this ignorance. But, on the other 
hand, there is considerable danger in draw- 
ing attention directly to the functions which 
certain organs of the body may in the future 



208 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



Dealing 

with 

Ignorance 



The Parent's 
Lack of 
Courage 



be called upon to perform. Much of the 
purity of childhood is born of ignorance; 
the child does not think of impure things, 
and, therefore, he is pure-minded. Ques- 
tions relating to the matter of the sexes are 
not in themselves impure ; it is the environ- 
ment, or manner of handling, that makes 
them so. A statement absolutely pure in 
itself may be so uttered that one may hesi- 
tate again to repeat it in like manner. I do 
not think that it is a question as to how 
much information a child should have in 
these matters, as it is of how that informa- 
tion shall be obtained. 

By the exercise of judgment and an aver- 
age amount of delicacy and firmness, the 
parent will be capable to cope with this prob- 
lem and impart an amount of knowledge 
which will meet all the demands of the 
child's inquiry. The youthful mind can be 
imprest with proper ideals in such manner 
that there will be no danger to the child's 
sense of delicacy. 

Usually, with parents there is a feeling of 
fear which deters them from handling the 
question ; this fear is the result of considera- 
tions of modesty, or it may be that the sub- 
ject is one so fraught with the possibilities 



THE QUESTION OF SEX 209 

of mistakes that the parent does not feel 
competent to handle it. 

It is just this absence of courage that^desty 
causes most of the harm. In regard to the 
first reason (modesty), the child is bound 
sooner or later to acquire knowledge, and if 
not from a proper source, then from a more 
dangerous one. Who is better equipped to 
handle this subject with the greatest delicacy 
and consideration for the best interests of 
the child than the father with his boy and 
the mother with her girl? Modesty about 
any question depends a great deal upon how 
the thing is handled. Usually, when modesty 
has been offered as the excuse, I have found 
that the parent had a wrong sense of this 
virtue. If the relation of the parent and 
child has been right beforehand, the instruc- 
tion made necessary by the child's inquiry 
will be of greatest value if it comes from 
the parent. 

Sense of unfitness to handle the subject Preparation 

J for the 

as it should be dealt with is more real than Task 
the excuse of modesty. There are, unfor- 
tunately, those who are not fitted to speak 
freely upon this subject, because of a lack 
of courage, coupled with a lack of knowl- 
edge. There needs to be some preparation 



2IO CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

for it. The parent must know that he is to 
instruct and he must know how to impart 
knowledge. It is, therefore, unwise to wait 
until the problem confronts you. Fore- 
Avarned is forearmed, and long before the 
possibility of having to meet it arises, prepa- 
ration should be made by careful thought, 
careful reading, and the acquiring of an 
amount of knowledge requisite. The parent 
should be able to tell briefly how the body 
is constructed and how growth and develop- 
ment fit the child for the activities of life, 
watching If these matters are clearly understood 

for the *j j 

Awakening anc j an effort to go into the details is avoided, 
the talk with the child, in place of being one 
which is dreaded, will act as one of real 
profit and closer companionship. Unless the 
child makes early inquiries, the subject of 
the differences between the sexes should not 
be brought up. An observing parent will at 
once detect any signs or indications that 
knowledge is beginning. In this matter, that 
is the time for action. The child must be 
led unconsciously to indicate what amount 
of knowledge he has and its source. 

Whether the parent takes the lead, or the 
child directly introduces the subject by some 
inquiry or suggestion, as little information 



THE QUESTION OF SEX 211 

as possible should be offered until the time 
of puberty. 

In their personal relations and games The Time^ 
there should be little difference between the 
sexes until they have reached the age of 
twelve or thirteen; that is, there should be 
nothing to excite in them the thought that 
there are vast sex differences. It is, there- 
fore, well to encourage friendships between 
the sexes, rather than have a boy with none 
but boy companions and a girl with none >■ 

but girls. Even as the child reaches the age 
of puberty, when its intenser physical life 
and the tremendous changes which take 
place at that period become very evident, 
they need not be forcibly reminded of dif- 
ferences in the sexes. This is of particular 
importance at this period, because the 
nervous system is under a great strain, and 
there is no good which will come from de- 
liberately exciting thoughts and emotions 
which will become prominent later on. 

There should be no detailed information 
given at any time before puberty. While it 
may be wise to warn a child of the dangers 
which may confront it in a few particular in- 
stances, as a general thing it will be unneces- 
sary and harmful, since the child tends to 



212 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



Teaching 

from 

Nature 



Physician 
as Teacher 



enlarge upon the dangers spoken of. Noth- 
ing is gained by elucidation of unnecessary 
details, and, in fact, much should be left to 
inference. The child has reached the age 
when it thinks for itself, and the real ne- 
cessity is that thought be guided along the 
right channels. One of the best methods is 
to teach the child the origin of plant life and 
of the development of the eggs of birds. In 
this way the child is taught to take an in- 
terest in these things, and his powers of ob- 
servation are aroused and he makes his own 
inferences. These are drawn in a healthy 
way, and the knowledge so obtained helps 
the moral tone of the child instead of in- 
juring it. 

But how will the problem be handled in 
those instances in which, for some reason, 
the confidence which should exist between 
parent and child has never been established, 
or has been strained ? It is just as necessary 
that these children be set right and be pro- 
tected. In such circumstances, it is well to 
refer the case to the physician when the 
parent sees that information is becoming 
necessary and he can not give it. The physi- 
cian should be made acquainted with all the 
facts beforehand, and then left to deal with 






THE QUESTION OF SEX 213 

the problem as the needs of that particular 
child may indicate. 

We do not advocate such transfer of re- 
sponsibility, except as it has become abso- 
lutely necessary, on account of the parent's 
inability to cope with the problem. 



E 



XXI 

EVIL HABITS 

VERY child has to be taught at some 
time to control its bladder and to in- 
dicate in some way when there is a neces- 
sity of emptying it. In not a few instances 
lack of proper training will cause the habit 
of inattention, which was acquired in in- 
fancy, to continue. With proper training, 
the little child will soon learn to indicate its 
desires. If the bed-wetting persists after a 
child has reached the age of three years 
and in spite of training, this is indicative of 
some serious fault in the nervous system, or 
in the general nutrition. 
Red-wetting There are scores of reasons which are 
given as the real causes for the habit of bed- 
wetting; at first some of these seem to be 
reasonable, but their removal does not al- 
ways remove the habit. While a very slight 
condition, such as worms, tight foreskin, 
etc., may be an exciting cause, there is al- 
ways back of it a condition of the child's 
system which must be recognized and cor- 
214 



EVIL HABITS 215 

rected before any permanent good can be 
accomplished. 

This condition of the system rests upon 
a combination of three things : An irritable 
nervous system, which may be inherited or 
acquired ; an impoverished condition of the 
blood, and malnutrition. Not every child 
so affected will wet the bed; but, if added to 
these there is local irritation, that is suffi- 
cient as an exciting cause. And the habit 
once formed tends to continue. 

Considerably more than half the cases of 
bed-wetting occur at night; a much smaller 
number of children lack control of the blad- 
der during both night and day, while a very 
small per cent suffer through the day only. 

Naturally, there are several degrees of 
trouble. One child will suffer incontinence 
once during the twenty- four hours, while 
another may offend several times. Gener- 
ally, bed-wetting occurs within one or two 
hours after the child has retired and while 
sleep is most profound. There is no drib- 
bling, the bladder is emptied at once and 
usually quite thoroughly. 

In corrective treatment for this condition, !/ t ' a,me " t of 

Hcd-wetting 

every means must be taken to remove all 
possible exciting causes and the general state 



2l6 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

of health must be inquired into. To do this, 
requires the skill of a careful physician, and 
that should be sought. But, irrespective of 
the attention which may be given to the 
child's health and condition, there must be 
cooperation by the parent with the physician. 
Moral treatment is of just as much im- 
portance as medical and hygienic care. 
Bed- Bed-wetting is due to a physical and not to 

a Physical ' a moral fault ; the child needs body care and 
not punishment. Neither should there be 
any threats made of punishment or any an- 
noyance shown by the parent for the incon- 
venience caused by the child. If old enough, 
the child should cooperate in an endeavor to 
overcome the habit, and this cooperation 
must be secured by other means than "sha- 
ming" the child or scolding it. 

An effort must be made to have the child 
hold the urine as long as possible with com- 
fort during the day, because in this manner 
the bladder will become accustomed to hold 
a large quantity, and there will, therefore, 
not be as much danger during the night of 
the child's voiding the urine just as soon as 
the bladder becomes partly filled. After 
late afternoon (four or five o'clock) the 
child should be very much restricted in the 



EVIL HABITS 217 

amount of fluid taken. In cases that are 
persistent, it is advisable to awaken the 
child one hour after retiring and have him 
void the urine at that time. Sometimes the 
elevation of the foot of the bed, raising it 
about two inches higher than the head, will 
help materially in relieving the desire. 

No matter how simple the cause may 
seem to be, it will tax the patience and per- 
severance of all concerned in combating it, 
and while the effort is being made the child 
should be under the care of a physician. 

The evils of nail-biting and its conse- Nail-biting 
quences to the child are so self-evident that 
they need no lengthy description. While it 
is a habit, it is practically always dependent 
upon some fault in the child's general con- 
dition. It is a common thing to hear the 
statement made that this and other similar 
habits are merely due to nervousness in the 
child. There is truth in such a statement, 
but there the matter usually rests. The child 
who practises this habit is generally of a 
very nervous temperament and deprest, or 
is generally weak. Such being the case, 
there can be expected no permanent good 
results until the general condition is at- 
tended to and the main fault removed. 






banging 



2l8 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

There is no question that painting the 
fingers with some bitter substance some- 
times results in an apparently immediate 
cure because the child so dislikes the very 
bitter taste. But in these immediate cures 
the habit is broken up and the chances are 
that the underlying cause of the habit, the 
irritable nervous system, or malnourished 
body, is neglected. 

Nail-biting does not usually exist alone; 
the child bites also the skin about the edges 
of the nail, and this is frequently pulled 
away in rather large pieces, leaving a much- 
denuded surface which invites infection. It 
is in this manner that many cases of bone- 
felon start: the danger of losing a part of 
the finger entire is not uncommon in this 
painful infection. 

Head-banging is not a very uncommon 
habit in children who are nervous and ex- 
citable. In a large percentage of cases the 
head-banging is done while the child is in 
a fit of anger, but is usually done with suffi- 
cient care not to inflict severe injury or 
pain. The child may run to the wall and 
bang its head against it, or may lie on the 
floor and go through the procedure. In a 
few instances the child seems to experience 



EVIL HABITS 2ig 

some unaccountable pleasure from banging 
its head with more or less force against 
some flat object, or from striking the head 
very forcibly with the fist or the open hand. 

There is no associated pain in the head 
and it is purely a habit. When the child 
goes through the act as the result of an ex- 
pression of displeasure, the same means 
must be used as would govern the control 
of any other evidence of temper. Altho it 
may not be harmful in itself or occasion 
any injury, still it is a habit which is not 
to be fostered or allowed to continue. 

Thumb-sucking is a bad habit. TheJ u h c ^ b - 
little child by instinct carries many 
things to its mouth, and when anything is 
placed at its lips, the most natural thing for 
the infant to do is to suck. Now, when 
nothing seems to be handy, it may place its 
thumb in the mouth and use that member. 
In this manner the child, as it grows, al- 
most insidiously takes up the habit, and what 
was done at first under the impulse of a per- 
fectly normal instinct, becomes a fixt habit. 
One of the very reasons why the habit is al- 
lowed is because it apparently does the child 
no harm, but keeps it contented and happy, 
and the growth of the habit is unnoticed. 






220 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

If, however, the child is allowed to con- 
tinue the habit for a long time, it becomes 
very difficult to break it up, and it may be 
indulged in until the child is several years 
of age. I have occasionally had adults ad- 
mit to me that they indulged secretly in the 
habit, even in their adult years, but this is 
somewhat rare. 

The chief danger in the continuance of the 
habit is in deformity of the mouth, which 
will appear in later life. If the habit is not 
already well rooted, the thumb may be well 
covered with some bitter solution (quinine 
dissolved in alcohol, or aloes), so that the 
taste will make the child desist. But if the 
habit has been long continued, such simple 
means are ineffective and mechanical re- 
straint may be necessary. The simplest 
means are a bandage applied to the thumb, 
or a mit or glove fastened to the hand. In 
other instances it may become necessary to 
apply a splint, or some other stiff material, 
to the arm and have it so placed that the 
child can not possibly bend its elbow ; in this 
way, while the arm can be freely moved, the 
child can not carry the hand to the face. 

Punishment in these cases acts as it does 
in most other habits — it does not cure, but 



EVIL HABITS 221 

teaches the child to continue the habit in 
such manner that it uses deception in ac- 
complishing its end. If the habit is formed 
by a child that is nervous, or not properly- 
nourished, it is much more difficult of cor- 
rection. Attention must always be paid in 
these instances to the general condition of 
the child. 

Of all the evil habits, masturbation is the Mas 
most serious. This habit exists more com- 
monly than most parents are ready to ad- 
mit, and when discovered it is generally by 
some one other than the father or mother. 
This is due, in part, to the prevalent blind- 
ness of parents to any serious faults in 
their children, but is more commonly due to 
ignorance, which makes early knowledge of 
the habit impossible. The very early age at 
which the habit may be contracted is one 
reason why parents do not detect it earlier. 
Often the habit has been a fixt one for 
months or even years before it is discov- 
ered. Thus, it is of prime importance that 
parents detect the very first signs of the 
habit and take means to correct it at once. 
After the age of three years it is not an 
uncommon thing to find thigh-rubbing and 
manipulations of the sexual organs a prac- 



222 CAKE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

tise in both sexes. Nurse-maids are not 
entirely ignorant upon this matter and fre- 
quently, when a little child becomes trouble- 
some or fretful, the sexual organs are han- 
dled by the maid, and the child, realizing a 
new sensation, becomes quieted. The habit 
may be formed in this manner. 
™bi h ng Thigh-rubbing is generally accomplished 

with the child lying upon the back with the 
thighs flexed or crossed. Then, while in 
this position, the body is worked more or 
less violently up and down. Or the body 
may be held stationary and the thighs rubbed 
together, accomplishing the same results. 

It is evident that these movements are at- 
tended with a certain amount of pleasure. 
The movement lasts only a few minutes, but 
during that time the child's face may be 
flushed. The act may be repeated several 
times during the day. Then follows a 
period of relaxation in which the child lies 
quiet or may be in a more or less dreamy 
state. During the daytime the child may 
rub its thighs against some article of fur- 
niture. 

While this habit in itself does not prove 
very harmful to the child, it must be cor- 
rected at once, because it readily leads to the 



EVIL HABITS 223 

more serious habit of true masturbation. 
Restraint is the proper method of procedure 
and some mechanical device must be placed 
to keep the thighs apart. Such an apparatus, 
even tho crude and cumbersome, will not in- 
terfere with the child's sleep, and even in 
that event it is much better to break up the 
habit even at the cost of a little sleep. There 
are devices made just for this purpose, but 
a home-made arrangement will often answer 
the purpose just as well. 

Masturbation is easily learned by children Dangers fron 

J J Ungoverned 

at school, because of their association with Associations 
large groups of children, some of whom 
practise the habit. Therefore, at this time 
of life the parent must be keen to discover 
the possibility of its existence. In the matter 
of the sexual question, parents are, unfor- 
tunately, ignorant; when the child shows 
any sign of enlightenment, the subject is 
arbitrarily disposed of. What, then, has the 
child to do but to listen to stories told by 
school companions and learn from them. I 
am sure that it is an unwise step to warn the 
child in advance in regard to the matter, be- 
cause by so doing we may excite a curiosity 
which may be harmful and which might 
have been quiet for a long time. But, with 



224 CARE AND TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

the first enlightenment, the child may be 
warned of the dangers and encouraged al- 
ways to talk to the parent on this matter, 
but never to his companions. The child 
must be imprest with the fact that talking 
about these matters must be indulged in on 
rare occasions only and then with the parent 
only. 

When the habit is known to exist, every 
means must be taken to check it. Just here 
there is value in a frank talk with the of- 
fender, but that talk must be devoid of 
everything which is harsh or that in any 
way approaches scolding. By frankness we 
mean that the talk must be plain and not over 
exaggerated. There is a marked tendency to 
overstate the consequences and this is wrong. 
The child can not realize all of these and 
the good which might be accomplished is 
thereby lost. 

Following the talk, there must be the 
offer of the parent to help in overcoming 
this habit, and there must be no threat of 
punishment for a future offense, because 
that will defeat the very object which we 
must have in view : securing the confidence 
of the child. Threats only make the child 
deceptive and secretive. The whole atti- 



EVIL HABITS 225 

tude of the parent must be one of frank 
statement and warning of the dangers of 
the habit if it is continued, of intelligent en- 
lightenment and avoidance of severity. Par- 
ticular emphasis must be placed upon the 
consequence of continuance in the habit* be- 
cause if that is not made clear to the child, 
he may think that what he has done has 
already brought about its consequences, and, 
therefore, he becomes disheartened and per- 
sists in the habit. The child should be en- 
couraged to strive for mastery over the 
habit, and if necessary the warnings must be 
repeated from time to time. 

If possible, the source of the habit should 
be sought and corrected. Not uncommonly 
the habit has its inception in some local irri- 
tation of the parts (the handling by a nurse- 
maid, a tight or irritated foreskin, clothing 
which is too tight between the legs, heavy, 
hot bed-coverings, and so forth), and these 
must be corrected. Allowing the child to 
lie in bed inactive in the morning, with no 
healthful occupation for its mind, will foster 
the habit. 



INDEX 



Activity, physiological re- 
sults of, 60 

Adenoids, as causing sleep- 
lessness, 65 

Affirmation, in the morning, 
168 

Aids to Memory, 125 

Air, fresh, 11 

Airing the room, 7 

Ambition, dangers of, 106 

Amusements, 187; outdoor, 
190 

Anemia causing sleepless- 
ness, 65 

Apartment. See Room. 

Appeals to reason, 144 

Appetite, 46; poor, 47; 
whimsical, 47 

Artifice in child govern- 
ment, 147; dangers of, 
147; effect of upon 
child, 148 

Association, influences of, 
133, 134 

Attitude toward child ; for- 
mer, 138; present, 138 

Authority, parental, 139, 140 

Awakening higher motives, 
167, 168 



B 



Banging the head, 176, 208 
Bathing, 49; frequency of, 
51 ; loc-tl, 57 ; out-of- 
door, 52; surf, 52, 55; 
advantages of, 56; fear 
of, 56; systematic, 49 



Baths, bran, 57 ; cold sponge, 
53; local, 57; shower, 
53; temperature of, 52; 
tub, 53; warm, 51, 54 
See also Bathi>ig. 

Bed-wetting, 204 ; a physical 
fault, 206; treatment of, 
205 

Biting the nails, 207 

Blood, cause of poor, 12; 
effects of poor, 12 

Books. See Literature. 

Bowels, best time to evacu- 
ate, 70; constipated, 71; 
influence of exercise 
upon, 74; influence of 
habit upon, 69. See also 
Constipation. 

Bread, 40; brown, 41 ; white, 
41 

Breaking down in school, 
118; threatened, 119 

Breaking the will, 157 

Butter, 36 

Buttermilk, 36 

Buying obedience, 150 



Calf love, 186 

Candy, 45 ; when not to give, 

46 
Carelessness, guarding 

against, 194 
Cereals, 38 

Cheering word, the, 168 
Cheese, 37 

227 



228 



INDEX 



Child and parent, 122; confi- 
dence of, 148; govern- 
ment of the, 136; what 
is a, 123. See also Child- 
hood. 

Child's amusements, the, 
187; outdoor, 190; 
friends, 182; and the 
home, 182; undesirable, 
184; literature, 178; 
choice of, 178; guiding 
the choice, 179; posses- 
sions, 192 ; viewpoint, 
127 

Childhood, characteristics 
of, 128, 129, 130; cred- 
ulity of, 129; curiosity 
of, 128; experiences of 
recalled, 125 ; fears of, 
157, 158; gratitude of, 
144 ; imagination of, 
130; imitation of, 130; 
immaturity of, a bless- 
ing, 139; moral failures 
of, 170; reasoning in, 
140; restlessness of, 128 

Children, attitude toward, 
138; former, 138; pres- 
ent, 138; discouraged, 
160; emotional, 134; fa- 
milial differences of, 
122; fearsome, 157; im- 
pulsive, 135; individual- 
ity of, 122, 132; motor, 
134; nervous, 170; moral 
failings of, 170; persist- 
ent, 134; punishment of, 
152; sensory, 135; slow, 
135; spoiled, 146; study- 
ing, methods of, 124 

Chocolate, 45 

Clinching the correction, 168 



Clothing, 19; and exercise, 
26; and seasons, 24; es- 
sentials of, 20, 23 ; fitted, 
23, 25; foot, 24; func- 
tions of, 20; neck, 26; 
outer, 25 ; under, 21 ; 
wool, 20 

Coffee, 43; amount of, 43; 
preparation of, 43 

Cold fluids, 43 

Colds, causes of, 9, II, 26, 
27 

Commands, indistinct, 143 

Companions. See Friends. 

Concentration and fatigue 
periods, 109; excessive, 
no; normal periods of, 
109, no 

Conference, evening, 166; 
morning, 168 

Confidence, securing child's, 
148 

Consideration for others, 
171 

Constipation, causes of, 45, 
72; chronic, 71; defini- 
tion of, 71, 72; habitual, 
71 ; influence of exer- 
cise, 74; of habit, 69; 
prevention of, 69; re- 
lieved by brown bread, 
41 ; suppositories in, 74. 
See also Bowels. 

Contagion. See Infection. 

Convalescence, moral faults 
in, 170 

Correction, gentle, 167 

Courtesy, 175 

Cream, 36 

Credulity, 129 

Cruelty, 174 

Curiosity, 128 



INDEX 



229 



Dancing, 191 

Dealing with petty thefts, 

1/3 

Deceit, learning, 149 

Diet, 28; amount necessary, 
28; and education, 112; 
excessive, 30; individual 
peculiarities of, 29 ; lists, 
29 

Digestion, disordered, 31 ; 
due to eating between 
meals, 32; faulty masti- 
cation, 31 ; poor teeth, 
3i 

Dirt, dangers of, 103 

Drafts, causing colds, 10 

Dramatic instinct, 172 

Dust, dangers of, 103 



Eating before retiring, 32; 
between meals, 32; ex- 
cessive, 30; intervals be- 
tween, 32 ; slow, impor- 
tance of, 31 ; with adults, 
29; working before, 63. 
See also Diet. 

Education and adenoids, 
100; and defective vi- 
sion, 115; and fatigue 
periods, 107; 108; sleep, 
114; special organs, 113; 
correct impressions nec- 
essary to, 115; crowded, 
104; defined, 83; dis- 
couragement antagonis- 
tic to, 117; enthusiasm, 
good in, 117; home, 83; 
influenced by home, 84; 
furniture, 13, 17; nutri- 
tion, 111; parents, 137 ; 



Education — 

138; kindergarten, 85; 
advantages of, 86; dis- 
advantages of, 85, 80 ; 
parents' part in, 87; 
school, 88; variety in, 
105. See also Home, 
Kindergarten, School. 

Eggs, 34 

Encouragement, 168 

Enthusiasm and imagina- 
tion, 132 

Evening conference, 166; 
preparation for, 169 

Evil habits, 204 

Exercise and clothing, 26; 
effects of, 60 

Excitement, cause of wake- 
fulness, 64 



Failings, moral, 170 

False modesty, 199 

Familial differences in chil- 
dren, 122 

Fat Children, 82 

Fatigue, conditions favor- 
ing, in 

Fatigue periods, 107, 108, 
109; physiological, 107; 
second, in boys, 109, 
girls, 108 

Faults, moral, 153, 170 

Fear, 157; how to treat, 158 

Felons, 208 

Finding one's self, 146 

Fireplace, open, 9 

Fish, 34 

Fits of passion, 175 

Flesh foods, 33 

Fluids, cold, 43 

Food. See Diet, Meals. 

Foot coverings, 24 

Franklin heater, the, 9 



230 



INDEX 



Friends, 182; undesirable, 

184; elimination of, 184 
Frightening, 156; cause of 

mental suffering, 158 
Fruit, 39 
Furnace heat, 9 
Furnishings of room, 12; 

educational influence of, 

13 



Gentle methods in govern- 
ment, 140; 164; dan- 
gers of, 144 

Gift books, 179 

Government of the child, 
136; gentle methods of, 
164; State's attitude to, 
136 

Gratitude, 144 

H 

Habit, effect of, upon 

bowels, 70, 71 
Habits, evil, 204 
Head-banging, 176, 208 
Health and education, 90; 

physiological, 91 ; what 

is, 90 
Heat, furnace, 9; steam, 9 
Heater, Franklin, 9 
Heating apparatus, 9; of the 

child's room, 9 
Height, 79; average, 80; 

normal difference, 79 
Hernia, due to clothing, 23 
Higher motives, awakening 

of, 167, 168; influencing, 

155 

Home, contagion at, 95 ; ed- 
ucation at, 83 

Hot housing, 11 



Iced fluids, 43 

Ignorance of sex, 197 ; com- 
mon, 197; harmful, 197 

Imagination in childhood, 
130, 172; and enthusi- 
asm, 132; control of, 
132 

Imaginative stories, 131 

Imitation in childhood, 130 

Impressions, correct, need 
of, 115 

Impulsiveness, 135 

Inactivity, dangers of, 63, 
215; in school, 96, 97 

Individuality of children, 
122, 132 

Infection, precautions 
against, 97 ; risks of, 96 ; 
through nail-biting, 208; 
toilet articles, 194 

Insolence, 174 

Insanity of the will, 146 

Intermingling of the sexes, 
185, 201 

Introspection, 124; aid to 
child study, 124 

K 

Kindergarten education, 85 ; 
advantages, 86; disad- 
vantages, 85, 86 

Knowledge, acquisition of, 
88,89 



Leggings, 25 

Lighting child's room, 10 

Literature, 178; choosing, 

178; guiding the choice 

of, 179 
Lying, 171 
Lying in bed, dangers of, 63 



23 J 



M 

Mastication, 31 

Masturbation, 211 

Meat, 33 

Meals before retiring, 32; 
eating between, 32; ex- 
cessive, 30; intervals be- 
tween, 32; working be- 
fore, 63. See also Diet. 

Medicines in food, 48 

Memory, aids to, 125 ; con- 
centration in, 109, no; 
control of, acquired, 137 

Mental incapacity, 101 ; over- 
strain, 106; self-reliance, 
137 

Milk, 35; cause of constipa- 
tion, 73 

Modesty, false, of parent, 
199 

Moral consciousness, lack 
of, 176 

Moral faults, 153; failings, 
170; self-reliance, 137; 
responsibility, age of, 
171 

Morning affirmation, 168; 
conference, 168 

Motives, higher, awakened, 
167, 168 

Motor children, 134 

Mussing the clothes, 25 

N 

Nagging, 159 
Nail-biting, 207 
Neck coverings, 26 
Nervous children, moral 

failings of, 170 
Night terrors, 66 
Nutrition, importance of, 

111; what constitutes, 

113 



Obedience, based upon pa- 
rental authority, 140; by 
artifice, 147; 148; buy- 
ing, 150; compulsory, 
145; teaching of, 142; 
through fear, 156; rea- 
soning, 140, 144; threats, 
162; training to, 141 

Ocular overstrain, 116 

Open fireplaces, 9 

Order fostered by habit. 17; 
teaching, 194 

Overdressing, 26 

Overeating, 30 

Overstrain, mental, 106 joc- 
ular, 116 



Parent and sex question, 
196; against parent, 163; 
criticizing parent, 163 

Parental authority, 139, 140 

Parents' and child's view- 
point, 127; cooperating 
with State, 96, 136; le- 
gal obligations, 136; 
137; moral obligations, 
95. 137', relation to 
child, 122; test of capa- 
bility of, 122 

Passion, fits of, 175 

Persistency, 135; lack of, 
134 

Personal pride, 192, 193 

Physician and sex problem, 
202 

Pictures, 15 

Playroom, 16 

Poise, 146 

Positive virtues, teaching, 
165, 169 

Possessions, the child's, 192 



»32 



Power to reason, 145 
Precocity, 119; and long 

life, 120 
Punishment, 153; corporal, 

153; objects of, 152 



Questioning, habit of, 129 
Question of sex, 196 
Quick learners, 134 
Quick temper, 134 

R 

Reading. See Literature. 

Reading clubs, 180 

Reason, appeals to, 144, 145; 
power to, 145 

Reasoning and authority, 
147; in childhood, 140, 
145 

Reprimands, 159 

Restlessness in childhood, 
128 

Restraint, influence of, 98 

Rheumatism, sugar in, 45 

Right and wrong; apprecia- 
tion of, 164; age of, 171 

Romance-weaving, 172 

Room, the child's, 7 ; attract- 
iveness of, 14; clean- 
ing of, 16; furnishing 
of, 12; educational val- 
ue, 13, 17; floor cover- 
ings of, 12, 13; heating 
of, 9; lighting of, 10; 
sun in, 7; selection of, 
7 



Sacred things, imitation of, 

189 
Scarlet fever, precautions 

against, 97 



School and fatigue periods, 
107, 108 ; breaking down 
in, 118; threatened, 119: 
buildings, 104 ; desks, 
102 ; inspection, 93 ; 
methods, affect health, 
96 ; modern, 93 ; parents' 
duty toward, 100; sick- 
ness, 99 ; supervision, 
94. See also Education. 

Scolding, 159 

Selective faculty, 88, 89 

Selfishness, guarding against, 
192 

Self-reliance, mental, 137; 
moral, 137 

Self-respect, destroying, 156, 
160 

Sensory children, 135 

Sermonizing, 168 

Sex question, 196 

Sexes, intermingling of, 185, 
201 

Sickroom, 17 

Six-year molars, 75 

Skin, as heat regulator, 50; 
functions of, 50 

Slapping, 155 

Sleep, 59; and education, 
113; disturbances of, 
64; disturbed, 65; facts 
regarding, 61 ; need of, 
59; restless, 64; terrors 
during, 66; time spent 
in, 62, 114; uneasy, 65; 
walking in, 67 

Sleeplessness, caused by ad- 
enoids, 65 ; anemia, 65 

Slow children, 135 

Somnambulism, 67 

Spoiled children, 146 

State, coperating with par- 
ents, 96; moral obliga- 
tions of, 94 



*33 



Stealing, 173 
Steam heat, 9 

Stories, imaginative, of chil- 
dren, 131 ; which excite 
fear, 158 
Striking the child, 155 
Sunlight in the room, 7 
Sucking the thumb, 209 
Suppositories in constipa- 
tion, 74 



Tea, 44 ; preparation of, 44 

Teaching, obedience, 142; 
positive virtues, 165; too 
much, 104 

Teasing, 186 

Teeth, the, 75; care of, 76; 
cleansing of, 77; indi- 
vidual brushes for, 76; 
permanent, 75 ; syste- 
matic inspection of, 77; 
temporary, 76; wisdom, 
76 

Temperature of child's 
room, 10; how to regis- 
ter, 10 

Terrors, night, 66 

Theaters, 187 

Thefts, 173 

Thermometer, how to hang, 
10 

Thigh-rubbing, 212 

Threatening, 159, 160; effect 
on child, 161 

Thumb-sucking, 209 

Training, early, 140; to obe- 
dience, 141 

Trickery in government, 147 

U 



Underclothing, _>i 



Undesirable friendships, 
184; terminating them, 
184 

Unselfishness, 171 ; teach- 
ing, 192 



Value of outdoor play, 190 

Vegetables, 37 

Ventilation of child's room, 
7; evidences of defect- 
ive, 1 1 ; how to secure 
good, 8 

Viewpoint, the child's, 127; 
changing, 147 

Virtues, positive, teaching 
of, 165, 169 

Vision, defective, 115 

W 

Wakefulness, 65, 114 

Walking in sleep, 67 

Water, 41 ; cold, 43 ; drink- 
ing habit, 42 

Weight, 79; average, 80; of 
clothing, 81 ; normal 
differences of, 79; wet- 
ting the bed, 204; a 
physical fault, 206; 
treatment, 205 

Whooping-cough, precau- 
tions against, 98 

Will, breaking the, 157; in- 
sanity of, 146 

Wisdom teeth, 76 

Word of cheer, 168 

Working before eating, 63 

Worms causing wakeful- 
ness, 65 

Wrong and right, apprecia- 
tion of, 164; age of, 171 



*I? 10 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



